Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Chief Asaduddin Owaisi made strong comments on the tabling of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in the Assam Assembly, calling it “a backdoor imposition of Hindu law on Muslims.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Assam government tabled the UCC bill, along with seeking a ban on polygamy and mandatory registration of live-in relationships.
In a post shared on his official X handle, Owaisi said that the UCC exempts the tribal communities, making its claim of uniformity meaningless.
“Every community has the right to protect its culture under Article 29, but why is only the tribals’ autonomy being protected? This is the imposition of a law that no one wants. The Assam Uniform Civil Code is not uniform at all,” read his post.
He alleged that the provisions of the UCC are applicable to every community except Hindus. “This is a backdoor imposition of Hindu law on Muslims. On succession, inheritance and divorce, the Hindu principles are being imposed. Only Hindu culture is being protected, while Muslims have to comply with these so-called “uniform” rules.”
The Gujarat assembly on March 24 also passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill that seeks to put in place a common legal framework to govern marriage, divorce, succession and live-in relationships irrespective of religion.
The bill stipulates 7 years of jail term if marriages are conducted through force, coercion, or fraud, and also prohibits bigamy/polygamy. It also makes the registration of marriages and live-in relationships mandatory.
The ruling BJP hailed the bill, which exempts tribals, as a landmark reform to ensure equality, while the Congress vehemently opposed it, saying it violates fundamental rights and was “anti-Muslim”.
UCC, in simple terms, can be described as ‘one nation, one law’. It is a legal framework that proposes to replace personal laws of different religions regarding marriage, divorce, inheritance, succession and adoption.
It is important to note that, unlike civic and criminal laws, which are the same for all citizens, UCC focuses on personal laws as they are governed by various religions.
