Abdul Rashid Ansari, president of the National BJP Minority Morcha, endorsed the views of Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is the need of the hour.
Responding to questions by reporters here on Wednesday, while welcoming the proposal to usher in the UCC, he said the issue had been under discussion for long and had to be introduced for the integrity of the country.
He was of the view that the UCC would not be imposed on any particular community. However, the issue would be discussed in detail at various levels before the Union government makes its stand clear.
To a question on the stand of the BJP Morcha, he said, “Our stand is clear. Nobody is above the law.”
However, he added that the issue will be discussed at the State-level morcha meetings and placed before the national committee to arrive at a consensus. While making it clear that the BJP Morcha was also in favour of imposing a ban on cow slaughter, Mr. Rashid said the morcha would appeal to the minorities to think over the issue with an open heart.
A ban on cow slaughter was not going to affect anyone adversely as there are alternatives available. “The BJP government at the Centre is tackling the issue in a most democratic way by holding discussions with all stakeholders, including community leaders and political parties and State governments,” he said.
To a question, he said when slaughtering is banned, the question of eating beef does not arise at all.
On the Dadri lynching incident, Mr. Rashid said it was unfortunate and the BJP Morcha wanted justice to be meted out to the victim and punishment to the guilty.
