UCC will destabilize India, demolish diversity and create chaos in society: Moily warns Modi

News Network
July 5, 2023

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New Delhi, July 5: Amid the raging debate over the Uniform Civil Code, senior Congress leader and former law minister M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Law Commission and all political leaders not to open the "Pandora's box" on personal laws and "create chaos" in the society.

He also alleged that it was an issue that was intended to divide the society, destabilise the country and demolish the diversity enjoyed in Indian society.

In a statement, Moily underlined that Article 25 provides for the Right to Freedom of Religion.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently given a public thrust to Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Even though the Constitution of India makes a mention of the UCC, the founding fathers of the Constitution in the Constituent Assembly had chosen not to make it mandatory, as it involves the diversity of Indian society," said Moily, who was the law minister in the UPA-II government from May 2009 to May 2011.

Uniformity or commonality of the civil code for all regions and cultures of India is a different matter, he argued. 

"It would entail breaking the promise made to Nagas and Mizos to not interfere in their customs and could feed secessionist sentiments that are active to varying degrees in the region," Moily said.

He added that this will have repercussions not only for minorities such as Muslims, Christians, it will also have substantial effect on Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist and hundreds of tribes and among various sects in Hindus such as Aliyasantana in Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka and Marumakkathayam in Kerala.

"As expected, UCC is envisaged as a Muslim issue, forgetting other diversities prevailing in the country," he alleged.

Moily noted that the 21st Law Commission of India had declared that the UCC is neither necessary nor desirable.

He said that the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had already framed seven questions of law linked to religious freedom, rights and practices in the Sabarimala case. 

The first of the seven questions is what is the scope and ambit of Right to Freedom of Religion under Article 25 of the Constitution, he pointed out and noted that the said reference is still pending in the Supreme Court.

The 22nd Law Commission of India has rushed to issue a public notice for a fresh debate on the Uniform Civil Code, he said.

"The statement of the prime minister at the most may be a platitude in the meeting of the BJP party and may be a part of the BJP manifesto for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election of 2024," Moily said.

Neither any state nor the next Parliament can rush to the UCC legislation in the absence of a full-fledged report of the 22nd Law Commission or the judgment of the Supreme Court which had framed seven questions of law, he asserted.

The right to preserve one's religious identities through personal laws cannot be annulled by a premature proclamation of the prime minister, the senior Congress leader said.

He said that it should not be forgotten that the report of the 21st Law Commission of India will have to be debated and the Supreme Court should also come out with its verdict. 

"All the debates which are taking place now are premature, short-sighted and tend to create hatred in the society. Such debates are also intended to sabotage the concept of secularism which has always been upheld by the founding fathers of the Constitution," Moily said.

"I appeal to the prime minister of India, the Law Commission and all the political leaders not to open up the Pandora's box on personal laws and create chaos in the society which is intended to divide the society and destabilise the country and to demolish the diversity enjoyed in the Indian society," he said.

UCC refers to a common set of laws that are applicable to all the citizens of India that is not based on religion and dealing with marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption among other matters.

The Law Commission had on June 14 initiated a fresh consultation process on UCC by seeking views from stakeholders, including public and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue.

Addressing a gathering of party workers in Bhopal last week, Prime Minister Modi had made a strong pitch for the UCC, saying that the Constitution calls for equal rights for all citizens.

Modi had also said the opposition is using the issue of UCC to mislead and provoke the Muslim community.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

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