Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (PTI File)
CM Vijayan said how the BJP-led central government was not talking about unemployment and poverty, and that UCC was a way to divert attention from these issues
Terming it as a “unilateral and hasty” decision of the Centre, the Kerala Legislative assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution unanimously against the implementation of uniform Civil Code (UCC), becoming the first in the country to do so.
Presented by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the resolution expressed concern and dismay at the central government’s move to impose a Uniform Civil Code. “It is the opinion of this House that the unilateral and hasty action by the Central Government voids the Constitution’s secular character,” it read.
While speaking in the assembly, Vijayan said that “no one should have any misconception that they are trying to implement something which is there in the constitution. For sangh parivar Manu Smriti is the constitution. Sangh parivar is always against the constitution.”
Vijayan highlighted how the BJP-led central government was not talking about unemployment and poverty, and that UCC was a way to divert attention from these issues.
“Whenever general elections are nearing BJP will bring in such issues to divert attention of the people from issues that matter,” he said.
“Those people who are saying that civil laws should be uniform, these same people made divorces in Islam considered as criminal,” he added.
Today, the Kerala Assembly resoundingly passed a resolution against the Union Government’s unilateral and hasty move to impose the #UniformCivilCode. The implementation of the UCC without engaging in democratic debate or seeking consensus poses a significant threat to the unity… pic.twitter.com/zFk4pn7fWH— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) August 8, 2023
Meanwhile Opposition leader VD Satheesan said that the resolution contains a line that says: “with consultations UCC can be implemented.” This should be changed, he adds to “UCC should not be implemented at any cost.”
Efforts to impose UCC communal in nature, says resolution
“Our nation ensures Secularism right through the Preamble of the Constitution itself. The right to believe in any religion or the right to live according to any religion is ensured as part of the Fundamental Rights itself. Since religious freedom ensured by Article 25 of the Constitution comprises the right to follow and observe religious personal laws as well, any move to enact legislation to ban spiritual practices would amount to violation and abolition of Fundamental Rights ensured in the Constitution,” the resolution reads.
“When the right to live according to religious principles is a fundamental rights such legislation, if enacted, would amount to the denial of fundamental rights,” it added.
The resolution also highlighted that Article 44 of the Constitution only proposes that the nation shall strive to realise a Uniform Civil Code. This maintains that it shall be accomplishable only through consensus and dialogues with various religious groups, in the course of time.
“However, the central government’s authoritarian moves without consulting anyone, and without trying to create consensus, are making apprehensions among various sections of society,” it stated,
“The Kerala Legislative Assembly is also expressing its concerns in this regard. Such efforts to impose Uniform Civil Code are communal in nature and it can only be observed as harmful to the unity of the nation,” it added.
“The House unanimously urges the Central Government to refrain from making any blatant moves on issues affecting the people of the country,” the resolution said.
