Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday added fuel to fire on the debate on the need for Uniform Civil Code, calling it ‘an issue for every Muslim woman, who did not want her husband to bring home three other wives’.
“Everybody wants UCC. No Muslim woman wants her husband to bring home 3 other wives. Ask any Muslim woman. UCC is not my issue, it’s an issue for all Muslim women. If they are to be given justice, after the scrapping of Triple Talaq, UCC will have to be brought,” he said.
According to reports, the CM further said indigenous Muslims in Assam did not wish to be mixed with migrant Muslims.
He went on to say that while the Muslim population in Assam is one religion, but had two different sections in terms of culture and origin. One is native to Assam, where there has been no migration in the last 200 years. This group wants to be separated from migratory Muslims and given their own identity, according to Biswa.
The Chief Minister said ‘that the decision on the identity of the indigenous and the migrant Muslims in Assam will be taken by the state government’, said a report by Republic.
“Sub-committee was formed and presented the report. But it’s the sub committee’s report, the government hasn’t taken the decision yet. It’ll take the decision in the future who’s indigenous Muslim & who’s migrant Muslim. No opposition to this in Assam. They know the difference, it has to be given official form,” he said.
Many BJP leaders are bringing back the demand for UCC in their respective states.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur had earlier told News18 that the Uniform Civil Code is being examined in the state after the Uttarakhand government announced a panel for it.
“We have asked officials to examine it and whether it fits the state. It has come into active consideration after Uttarakhand announced a panel for it. We believe the decision to implement the UCC is a good one but we are examining it. The message that has gone from other states in the favour of UCC is right. We are not ruling out possibility of announcing it before polls. We will not be in a hurry. We will examine and we will see what we can do,” he had said.
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami had said a high-level committee will soon be set up to draft the UCC and communal peace in the state will not be allowed to be disrupted at any cost.
In November 2021, the Allahabad High Court said the UCC is mandatory. This was stated by a single-judge bench of Justice Suneet Kumar, who was hearing a batch of 17 petitions, pertaining to protection sought by inter-faith couples.
In one of these pleas, one of the parties said they converted to the religion of his or her partner and thus apprehended a threat to their life, liberty and well-being.
While allowing the pleas, Justice Kumar observed that UCC cannot be made “purely voluntary” owing to fear expressed by members of the minority community.
With inputs from News18
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