CPI(M) questions Cong's stand on Uniform Civil Code, says its stand varies in different states

Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Wednesday accused the Congress of not having a “clear stand” on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) issue and said the grand old party was adopting a different stance on the matter in various states.

The Congress was not invited to the Marxist party-organised seminar on UCC, to be held in Kozhikode on July 15, as it does not have a united stand on the matter, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said.

He asked whether the Congress had made any “effective move” so far against the BJP’s attempt to implement the UCC in the country and whether the party’s national leadership was ready for that.

“We have not invited the Congress to our seminar as the party has no clear stand on the matter…They are adopting a different stance on the matter in various states,” he told reporters here.

Alleging that the saffron party was actually trying to implement the Hindutva agenda through the UCC, Govindan said the upcoming seminar was part of the CPI(M)’s campaigns to check fascism.

The Modi government’s reported move to introduce a bill on the implementation of the UCC was a “deliberate intervention” to implement the Hindutva agenda. It is nothing but the implementation of a “communal agenda” and India’s diversity cannot withstand that, he said.

The Left leader alleged that BJP had in the past announced that a Ram temple would come up in the place of the demolished Babri Masjid. They also scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir and now have taken up the Uniform Civil Code issue.

The implementation of the UCC was an agenda similar to that of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Govindan claimed.

Rejecting media reports that the CPI, the second largest coalition partner in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), had a different opinion on the seminar issue, he said the CPI leaders would also take part in the programme.

On the IUML’s rejection of the Marxist party’s invitation to take part in the seminar, Govindan said it was not possible for them to accept it as they were part of the Congress-led UDF.

“The participation of one party or the other is not the issue…Whether our slogan (against fascism and UCC) is correct or not…That’s the issue,” he explained.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury would inaugurate the seminar here on July 15 in which all similar, secular-minded parties can participate, he said.

A strong political debate has been kicked off in the state over the UCC after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently made a strong push for implementing the civil code by asking how the country can function with dual laws that govern personal matters.

While the CPI(M) has announced that it would organise an anti-UCC seminar, the Congress-led UDF said it would hold a ‘Bahuswaratha Sangamam’ (roughly translated as a meeting to defend pluralism) on July 29 in protest against the implementation of UCC.

The CPI(M) had invited the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a major ally of the UDF, for the seminar, but the Congress ally rejected the Left party’s overtures to take part in its seminar.

The IUML had said that the Left party was trying to create “conflict” and “division” by not inviting the Congress.

PTI input