Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a strong pitch for a Uniform Civil Code today, said the country couldn't run on two laws, much like it didn't work to have "different set of rules for different members of a family".
PM Modi's comments come on the back of the Law Commission seeking views from various stakeholders on a uniform civil code, and reports that the government could bring in a bill in the next session of parliament.
Addressing a gathering of BJP workers under the party's "Mera Booth Sabse Majboot" campaign in Madhya Pradesh, where elections are due by December, PM Modi said those who opposed a common law for the country were inciting people for their own interests.
"Indian Muslims will have to understand which political parties are provoking and destroying them for their own benefit," he said, pointing out that the Constitution also talks about equal rights for all citizens. The Supreme Court has also asked for a Uniform Civil Code, he added.
PM Modi questioned the banned 'triple talaq' and questioned why, if it was inalienable from Islam, it wasn't practised in Muslim-majority countries like Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. In Egypt, where Sunni Muslims make up 90 per cent of the population, triple talaq was abolished 80 to 90 years ago, he pointed out.
"Those who advocate for triple talaq, they are hungry for a vote bank, they are doing grave injustice to Muslim daughters," the PM said.
He said triple talaq didn't just concern women but destroyed entire families. When a woman, after a wedding full of hopes, is sent back after triple talaq, it is her parents and brothers who feel her pain.
"Some people want to hang the noose of triple talaq over Muslim daughters to have a free hand to keep oppressing them," PM Modi said, adding that these are the people who support triple talaq.
"This is why Muslim sisters and daughters, wherever I go, stand with the BJP and Modi," he added.
PM Modi also slammed "those who target the BJP", saying if they really were well-wishers of Muslims, then most families from the community wouldn't have lagged behind in education and employment, and forced to live a difficult life.
Triple talaq is banned under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, which imposes a punishment of up to three years in jail. The Supreme Court has said there is no bar on granting anticipatory bail in such cases, provided the court hears the complainant woman before granting pre-arrest bail.
Earlier this month, the Law Commission initiated a fresh consultation process on the Uniform Civil Code by seeking views from stakeholders, including public and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue.
A Uniform Civil Code means having a common law for all citizens of the country that is not based on religion. Personal laws and laws related to inheritance, adoption, and succession are likely to be covered by a common code. States such as Uttarakhand are in the process of framing their common code.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last week said that Uniform Civil Code is part of the Directive Principles of the Constitution of India and that the Opposition is exaggerating the issue by labelling it as "politics of vote bank".
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