Arif Mohammad Khan welcomes Supreme Court’s ruling on Section 125

NEW DELHI: Former Union minister Arif Mohammad Khan has welcomed SC’s ruling that no personal law can contravene Section 125 of the criminal procedure code for humane assistance and maintenance to divorced women, Hindu or Muslim. Khan, however, did not hold out much hope that it would further move towards a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). "One cannot talk of UCC and Love Jihad in the same breath." Khan, who had resigned from the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986 over the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, said SC ruling on the Shamima Farooqui case, where her post-divorce maintenance was restored under section 125 of the CrPC, was a positive gesture. "The ruling is a boon to poorer sections among women." He told ET, however, this was hardly a signal that a debate on UCC could be initiated.

"I was invited by RSS to speak on this a few days ago and I told them then, that those asking for UCC cannot prohibit things like inter-community marriages and relationships. The language of Love Jihad and UCC don’t go together," he said. "We can always draft a UCC, but it is a societal prevalence over what religion allows you and prohibits," he said. "It requires a common sensical discourse which campaigns against so-called Love Jihad do not foster," he added. "I don’t think this government is serious about it in any case, since they have Najma Heptullah in the council of ministers, who was a mediator between the Rajiv Gandhi government and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board for the 1986 law," he added.