Just a few days ahead of the Election Commission likely to announce dates for the assembly polls in Gujarat, the state government on Saturday decided to form a committee under a retired high court judge for the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the state.
The opposition Congress and rights activists have criticized the move and alleged that the government is trying to divert the attention of people from real issues.
Announcing the decision at Gujarat BJP’s headquarters, Shree Kamalam, in Gandhinagar, State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi said it is a historic decision. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has been vested with all powers to form the committee, he said.
Union Minister Purshottam Rupala, who was also present, said that the move is towards realizing the slogans they used to raise during their childhood. “We have been speaking about Ram Janmabhoomi, Article 370 and Uniform Civil Code,” he said, adding that the Uniform Civil Code is aimed at ensuring all get equal justice in civil issues.
The scope of the committee will be announced when it is formed, Sanghavi said. In a deviation from the usual briefing at the state secretariat, the BJP leaders, wearing party scarf and caps, made the announcement in Hindi at the party headquarters.
Earlier, Uttarakhand had formed a six-member committee to examine ways to implement the UCC in the state.
Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakore and former state Congress president Arjun Modhwadia alleged that the BJP is trying to divert people from the real issues and this has deliberately done at a time when the Congress is all set to take out a yatra across Gujarat.
Zakia Soman, women’s rights activist and one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, told THE WEEK that this is a political decision and that the government is not aware about what is there in the Section 44 of the Constitution.
Instead of doing this, the BJP should be focusing on getting employment and jobs in the tribal areas, she said.
Soman further held that the BJP is not interested in gender equality or justice. “If this was the case, then why would they release Bilkis Bano gang-rape convicts?”
