The Hindu : Cong. against forcible change in personal laws

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 25, 2003

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Cong. against forcible change in personal laws

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 24. The Congress said today that the party has always held the opinion that there should be no interference in the personal laws of religious groups unless they were prepared for a change.

Reacting to the Supreme Court's suggestion with regard to a common civil code, the Congress spokesman, S. Jaipal Reddy, said that in the view of the party ``we believe nothing can be done at this stage''. The party also charged the Bharatiya Janata Party with adopting different postures on the issue. It said the BJP had consciously excluded the issue from the agenda of the National Democratic Alliance. Mr. Reddy charged that it said one thing as a party and another as the leader of the NDA.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said: ``given the context of the offensive of communal politics practised by the Hindutva platform and the ensuing insecurity among the minorities, particularly the Muslim community,'' the Supreme Court's suggestion, instead of helping ``the cause of national integration'', would have the reverse effect. The party's Politburo said many of the personal laws of different communities, including those of the majority community, discriminated against women and were not in consonance with the rights accorded to Indian citizens by the Constitution. ``What is urgently required is reform in various personal laws. This is an exercise that brooks no delay''.

The CPI said the suggestion could ``further complicate'' issues and there was a need to take the social reality into consideration. The party national secretary, Atul Anjan, said, ``for instance, the tribal laws even among the majority community were varied''.

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