Accusing the BJP of using the issue of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as a weapon to obliterate the identity of Muslims in the country, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat has said that the fundamentalist position insisting that instant and arbitrary triple ‘talaq’ is ordained by Islam will help communalists create a communal divide in the country.
Addressing a seminar on ‘Uniform Civil Code and the Left’ organised by the coordination committee of minority cultural groups loyal to the CPI(M) here on Tuesday, Mr. Karat said the BJP government was trying to conflate and combine the issue of the misuse of the instant and arbitrary use of triple talaq with the enforcement of the UCC.
The CPI(M) supports the plea of three Muslim women to the Supreme Court that the instant and arbitrary declaration of triple talaq should be made illegal.
“A substantial Muslim opinion is against the exercise of triple talaq in instant and arbitrary manner,” he said.
Noting that there are certain inequalities and defects in the personal laws, the CPI(M) leader said they were not particular to any religion. The real issue in his view was whether the country could have equality within and between religious communities.
“The way forward is to see that personal laws of all religious communities have reforms which will help to provide for gender justice,” he said.
Alleging that the Sangh Parivar had a planned agenda to demonise the Muslim community, he said the attempt was to portray Muslims as alien to the Indian mainstream.
Referring to the Law Commission’s ‘unfortunate’ issue of a questionnaire eliciting views of different sections of the people on the UCC, Mr. Karat said its purpose was stated to be to harmonise the cultures of India.
Describing India as a multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-ethnic country, he said the CPIM) had sent an effective rebuttal to the questionnaire.
“The BJP-led government and the Law Commission should read the Constitution,” he said adding that Article 371 A allows no Act of Parliament in respect of religious or social practices of the Nagas and Naga customary law and procedure because of the distinct social and culture structure of the Nagas.
A.N. Shamseer, MLA, presided. CPI(M) district secretary P. Jayarajan, party leaders M. Prakashan and M.V. Jayarajan, writer Khadeeja Mumtaz and academic Hussain Randathani were among those present at the seminar.
