The Opposition on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pushing a “divisive agenda” in his Independence Day speech, with the Congress calling his remarks on “communal civil code” an “insult” to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
“The non-biological PM’s capacity for malice, mischief, and maligning of history knows no bounds. It was on full display today from the Red Fort. To say that we have had a “communal civil code” till now is a gross insult to Dr. Ambedkar, who was the greatest champion of reforms in Hindu personal laws that became a reality by the mid-1950s. These reforms had been bitterly opposed by the RSS and the Jan Sangh,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
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Mr. Ramesh’s criticism came after Mr. Modi had asserted that a “secular civil code” is the need of the hour as the existing “communal civil code” is discriminatory.
The Congress leader quoted para 1.15 of the 21st Law Commission’s 182-page “Consultation Paper on Reform of Family Law” to argue that even a commission appointed by the Modi government didn’t agree on a Uniform Civil Code.
“While diversity of Indian culture can and should be celebrated, specific groups or weaker sections of society must not be dis-privileged in the process. Resolution of this conflict does not mean abolition of all differences. This Commission has therefore dealt with laws that are discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code which is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage,” Mr. Ramesh quoted the document, released on August 31, 2018.
“Most countries are moving towards recognition of differences and the mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust democracy,” the document had noted.
Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D. Raja told The Hindu that the Prime Minister should have raised issues that “united or inspired people”.
“Whatever he spoke was to divide and polarise people which is in line with the divisive agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh [RSS]. The Prime Minister speaks about 2047, but he failed to address the issues of plurality and diversity of the nation. Instead, he is trying to impose uniformity on the country,” Mr. Raja added.
Questioning the idea of “one nation, one election,” National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) general secretary and CPI leader Annie Raja said, “If this country cannot generate resources for an election, why are we talking about 2047? I do not know what is his intention behind ‘one nation, one election’.... The first agenda should be to ensure free-and-fair elections”.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha said Mr. Modi is yet to realise that there is only one Prime Minister in the country and those who voted for the Opposition do not have a separate Prime Minister.
“Every time we expected him to have a big heart, we have been disappointed. Even a polite conversation can seem awkward if it is held impolitely. Whether the statement on Viksit Bharat, saying that some people want destruction, this is a political speech. Today, he talked about a secular civil code. Secularism is a process, it has to be imbibed. Every time we expect that the Prime Minister will give up narrow mindset and have a broad-minded approach, he disappoints,” the RJD MP said.
Published - August 15, 2024 10:09 pm IST
