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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UP: Wrong spelling in ransom note help police crack staged kidnapping in Hardoi
Hardoi (UP) (PTI): Wrong spelling in a ransom note helped police crack a staged kidnapping in which a man tried to con his elder brother with a Rs 50,000 demand, officials said on Wednesday.
The incident came to light on January 5 when Sanjay Kumar, a contractor from Bandaraha village in Hardoi district, told police that he received a ransom note from an unknown number demanding Rs 5,000 for releasing his brother Sandeep (27) who was "kidnapped".
The note said if he failed to pay the amount, it would result in "deth" of his brother. Kumar also received a 13-second video clip in which his brother could be seen tied with a rope.
Superintendent of Police (SP), Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, said the wrong spelling of death in the ransom note -- spelled as "deth" -- gave clue that the person behind the act was not much educated.
Suspicion grew as Kumar did not have enmity with anyone, nor was the ransom amount that big, the SP said.
Tracking his mobile phone location, police traced Sandeep to Rupapur. During interrogation, police asked him to jot down a ransom note of his kidnapping, in which he again spelt death as "deth", the officer said.
Later, he confessed to staging his own abduction, saying he got the idea of extracting money from his brother after watching 'CID', a popular crime serial, the SP said.
Sandeep worked at cane purchase centre in Mirzapur, and recently his bike hit an elderly person in Sahabad on December 30, fracturing his leg. He was in need of money as the other party was demanding compensation from him, the officer said, adding that the accused has been arrested.
