Punjab CM Mann raises questions over UCC days after AAP's "in-principle support"
VP Dhankhar warns delay in implementation will be "corrosive to our values"
Chandigarh/Guwahati, Jul 4: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday raised questions over the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), days after the AAP leader's party extended its "in-principle support", even as Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar warned that any further delay in its implementation will be "corrosive to our values.'
As a debate raged in the country over the UCC after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent push for its implementation, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the prime minister in Delhi and said the common code will be implemented in the state soon but not in haste.
Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor, meanwhile, said the UCC will directly affect a very large segment of the population. "Its consequences, good or bad, would therefore be far greater than implementation of the other two core agenda of BJP(Ayodhya and Article 370)," he told reporters in Samastipur in Bihar.
Addressing the 25th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Vice-President Dhankhar said the time has come for implementing the UCC as envisaged by the founding fathers of the Constitution.
"The underlying sublimity of this(UCC) has to be appreciated and understood as this will bind the nation more effectively."
Mann while questioning the BJP line that the UCC was "envisaged in the Constitution" argued that its implementation has to take place only when all citizens are socially equal. He also claimed it is the BJP's agenda to start speaking about religion whenever elections are near.
"Are we socially equal? No. There are still many people who are suppressed," he told reporters in Chandigarh.
Mann's remarks on the UCC came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on June 28 extended its "in-principle support" to the UCC, but said it should be brought in with consensus after extensive consultations with stakeholders.
Senior Samajwadi Party(SP) leader Shivpal Yadav raised similar questions on the UCC issue and accused the BJP of indulging in "polarisation".
"Whenever the elections come, the BJP people start talking about polarisation like this, and they start doing politics of appeasement,"he told reporters in Lucknow.
Mann said the country is like a "bouquet which has flowers of all colours".
Every religion has its own culture and customs, he said, adding, "You (BJP) want the bouquet of only one colour. Each religion has its own culture and customs."
Mann further said, "It is the agenda of the BJP whenever elections are near they start speaking about religion. The AAP does not interfere in religion as it is a secular party."
A UCC typically means having a common law for all citizens of the country that is not based on religion. Personal laws and laws related to inheritance, adoption and succession are likely to be covered by a common code.
In his speech, Vice-President Dhankhar said Article 44 of the Constitution clearly states that the state shall endeavour to secure the UCC for its citizens across the country.
"This was the thought process of the founding fathers. The time has come for its implementation and there can be no rationale for impediment or further delay."
The framers of the Constitution were certain that the Directive Principles were fundamental in the governance of the country which reflected in the duties of the state to apply these principles in framing laws, he said.
'Following this premise, I am stunned at the reaction of some people when there is an effort to implement the UCC.
"If there is further delay in UCC implementation, it will be corrosive to our values,' Dhankhar said.
Politicians can practice the politics they want but there has to be a 'common denominator within the frame and respect for the nation and nationalism," he added.
Chief Minister Dhami while talking to reporters in Delhi denied having any discussion with Modi on the UCC, saying the prime minister's idea is to implement it in the country.
A common code will be implemented in the state soon, but not in haste, he said.
Dhami said he discussed various infrastructure and developmental projects of his state with the PM, adding he also extended an invitation to Modi to be the chief guest at the global investors summit proposed to be held in Dehradun in December.
However, when asked whether the UCC was also discussed in the meeting, Dhami said the prime minister is already aware of all the details.
"He knows all about the provisions of the UCC. It is his thought that UCC should be implemented in the country."
He said the state government has not received a complete draft of the report on the code yet.
"We will bring it (UCC) soon, we will not delay it, nor will we do anything in haste..."
Asked if the tribal groups will be exempted from the common code, the chief minister said the committee has reached out to different tribal groups in the state.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga wrote to the Law Commission of India that the UCC is against the interest of the ethnic minorities in general and the Mizos in particular.
Zoramthanga, also the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) president, said his party believes UCC is in conflict with the religious and social practices of the Mizos and their customary laws that are protected by Article 371(G) of the Constitution.
The MNF is a constituent of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the regional version of the NDA.
The Chhattisgarh Sarva Adivasi Samaj (CSAS), an umbrella body of tribal groups in Chhattisgarh, said the Centre should not be in a hurry to implement the UCC, as such a law will be a threat to the existence of tribals who have their own customary rules to govern their society.
CSAS president and former Union minister Arvind Netam told a news conference in Raipur his organisation does not completely object to a common civil law, but the Centre should take everyone into confidence before bringing it forth.
He, however, said it seems impractical to implement the UCC in a tribal society.
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TN youth from UAE has tested negative for Mpox: Health Minister Subramanian
Chennai, Nov 2: A 27-year-old native of Thiruvarur district, who had arrived from Sharjah, has tested negative for monkey pox, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said here on Saturday.
Test results from both the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research here and the Pune-based National Institute of Virology have show negative for Mpox virus, the minister said.
Subramanian had earlier in the day told reporters that result was awaited for the sample that had been dispatched to the NIV while test result from King Institute ruled out monkey pox.
On October 31, upon his arrival at Tiruchirappalli airport from the UAE, during screening, the young man displayed fever symptoms and small skin lesions. Hence, he was taken to a government hospital.
Subramanian said the returnee had been frightened and hence left for his hometown of Valangaiman in Thiruvarur district. "This treatment is for his good and in order to prevent the spread of infection," the minister said.
Hence, he was brought back to the hospital by the authorities with police help and he has been receiving good treatment at the state-run facility. Further, Subramanian said that the test result from the government-run King Institute indicated Chickenpox and marked negative for presence of Mpox.
Screening at airports for passengers arriving from foreign countries is going on continuously in the state and international airports have dedicated isolated rooms.
Special wards are ready in government medical college hospitals, including those in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli, to provide treatment for Mpox, in case anyone tests positive for the infection, the minister added.
