Congress ducks law panel query on uniform civil code

NEW DELHI: Congress has ducked a query from the law commission on uniform civil code (UCC), arguing that the timing to seek views of political parties smacked of the government's attempt to effect religious polarisation.

The main opposition submitted its response to the law commission's questionnaire without answering if it was for promulgation of UCC or not, choosing instead to impute serious motives to the endeavour initiated by the Centre.

The party seems wary of being caught in a political crossfire between BJP and Muslim organisations over triple talaq and UCC issues, where being seen as supportive of a uniform code could end up alienating minority opinion.


According to sources, Congress questioned the government's decision to "selectively pick uniform civil code out of so many directive principles" in the Constitution, arguing that the choice of the topic and the "timing" of the move pointed to the Centre's "ulterior agenda".

Congress accused the government of trying to foment "divisiveness" between different religious and cultural groups over an issue which should have been resolved through a "happy consensus". It also spoke about the issue of creating animosity between different social groups.

The decision to skip the query was taken by a Congress panel comprising Ahmed Patel, political secretary to party chief Sonia Gandhi; leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad; senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi and former law ministers Veerappa Moily and Salman Khurshid.

The aggressive finger pointing at the ruling BJP betrays concern in Congress that taking a position on the sensitive subject can expose it to a polarising fight between BJP and Muslim bodies which are opposed to UCC. Though unrelated, Muslim conservatives have also accused BJP of undermining religious rights by opposing triple talaq.