Opponents of the Prime Minister's drive for a "secular civil code" are communal and anti-women, particularly Muslim women and children, the VHP said on Sunday.
VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal questioned the purpose behind the opposition, saying that the proposed law is yet to be brought about. According to him, resistance to the Uniform Civil Code has no reason and rationale.
He said Article 44 of the Indian Constitution exhorts for equal rights through a Uniform Civil Code and listed that different High Courts and even the Supreme Court have acknowledged inconsistencies in the existing laws.
Bansal asserted that the UCC is not a matter of religion but a constitutional mandate. States like Uttarakhand and Goa, where UCC has been implemented, Bansal said, have not suffered any adverse effects.
He claimed that the real motive behind the opposition is not a concern for women's welfare but a reluctance to give up privileges. The UCC, he claimed, was all about empowering women, strengthening family structure, and assuring rights for children.
It was then that the VHP spokesperson turned around and accused the critics of being anti-constitutional principles and human rights. "Are those opposing the UCC not anti-child, anti-women? Is this not against constitutional values, human rights?" Bansal hinted that those who were proud of being secular were communal.
Though in his Independence Day address Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly made a case for the UCC, he said: "It is essential that we have a secular civil code and do away with the discriminatory communal laws." He had called for abolition of laws that cause societal divides.
This was the first time in 11 years that PM Modi has spoken about the UCC. Though the BJP has mentioned it in every election manifesto since 1989.
The Uniform Civil Code seeks to abolish the different personal laws presently in vogue, applicable according to different religions, and provide a uniform set of laws for all citizens. The personal laws deal with family affairs like marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance.
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