Leaders of religious minorities, Dalits and Tribes pledge to oppose Uniform Civil Code in India

 The Indian leaders of religious minorities, Dalit and tribal groups have pledged to oppose the design of the Modi government and collectively reject the proposal of Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

The leaders at a meeting in New Delhi vowed to ensure that the life and property of every citizen is safeguarded and it is a fundamental and constitutional duty of the government to do so.

The leaders also maintained that the government had no business to interfere in the customary laws and religious practices of social groups, tribals, Dalits and religious communities.

All India Backwards and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi, Confederation of Dalit and Tribals Organisations, All India Ravidasiya Dharam Sangathan, National Conference for Minorities, Sikh Personal Law Board, Federation of Catholic Associations of Archdiocese of Delhi, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Sikh Talmail group, Committee For Protection of Religious & Cultural Diversities and prominent social activists attended the meeting and unanimously agreed that the government should not interfere in the traditions, customs and religions of various communities.

The meeting categorically observed that the one-nation-one-law view of UCC is a pernicious attempt to intervene in the social and religious affairs of various communities and groups living in India.

“Earlier, we had a roundtable on UCC and passed a unanimous resolution. It was released at a press conference at the Press Club of India,” said Dr S.Q.R. Ilyas, spokesman of AIMPLB.

“We, the members of the minority communities, Dalits and Tribals want to collectively proclaim that UCC is a threat to the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution,” read the resolution adopted in the meeting.

“The government has no business to interfere in the customary laws and religious practices of social groups, tribals, Dalits, and religious communities,” read the resolution. It alleged that the Indian government intends to ‘scrap reservation in the garb of equality’.

The meeting resolved to prevent any desecration of religious books and places of worship and protect churches, mosques, gurdwaras and other religious places. “We will prevent all attempts to illegally occupy places of worship of other groups,” the resolution said.

“We will uphold the federal and plural structure of our country and our secular and democratic character be respected and protected by the government, political parties and by all the citizens of the country,” added the resolution.

“We take the pledge that we shall strive to ensure peace, safety and security, justice and a dignified life for every citizen of the country. We shall strive to end all forms of injustice, discrimination and harassment,” it added.

The meeting urged the government to take effective steps to ensure peace in the northeast region without compromising the rights of the tribals.

Naba Saraniya, Assam MP; Ashok Bharti, President of Confederation of Dalit and Tribals Organisations; R. Sukhdev Waghmare, Head, All India Ravidasiya Dharam Sangathan; Rahul Dambale, National Conference of Minorities; Prof. Jagmohan Singh, Convener, Sikh Personal Law Board; Syed Sadatullah Husaini, Vice President, All India Muslim Personal Law Board; Waman Meshram, President, All India Backwards and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF), Md. Fazlur Raheem Mujaddidi, General Secretary, All India Muslim Personal Law Board; A.C. Michael, President, Federation of Catholic Associations of Archdiocese of Delhi; Sardar Daljit Singh, Talmail group Amritsar; Dr Adv. MP Raju, Rajender Pal Gautam, MLA, Delhi Ml Ahmad Faisal Rahmani, Ameer e Shariat, Sister Adv. Mary Scaria, Eng. Mohd Saleem, Naib Ameer Jamat-e-Islami Hind; Adv. P.I. Jose Kamal Faruqui, Executive Member AIMPLB; Fahad Rahmani, Director Rahmani Foundation; and Dr S.Q.R. Ilyas, Convener Committee For Protection of Religious & Cultural Diversities, participated in the meeting.