A Vishva Hindu Parishad meeting in Ayodhya has highlighted certain points from the recently passed Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand and expressed hope the other state governments follow suit.
These include: the minimum marriageable age for girls of all religions to be 18; equal rights of divorce for men and women; six months imprisonment for not registering live-in relationships; equal rights for children born from live-in relationships; a bar on married people from entering live-in relationships; informing the female’s parents/guardians and the collector of the area about her whereabouts in live-in relationships; mandatory registration of marriages; prohibition of polygamy and an equal right for girls in inheritance.
Bajrang Lal Bagda, the newly elected general secretary of the VHP, said, “The temple has been constructed. Now, we shall focus on creating a cultured, dedicated and safe Hindu Samaj.”
“We hope that other state governments will soon follow suit to implement a UCC so that discrimination can be stopped, and women are entitled to equal rights,” he said.
“We have done much for society, but a lot still remains to be done,” he added.
Today is the last day of the three-day meeting of the VHP’s central board of trustees and the central governing council.
The meeting was attended by 371 participants both from India and abroad.
Among the key issues which featured in the discussions were cow protection, a stop on religious conversions, and ghar wapsi (re-conversion to Hinduism). Concrete plans were formulated to tackle these issues.
With the Lok Sabha elections coming up, the meeting gives a clear indication of the issues that the BJP will highlight during its campaign.