The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has strongly objected to the move of the BJP-led government in Uttarakhand to bring the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill, charging that the proposed legislation targeted the identity of the Muslim community besides inflicting damage on the country’s diversity.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami tabled the UCC Bill in the state Assembly on Tuesday, which seeks to bring uniformity in laws governing marriage, divorce, and inheritance, among other things, across religions. It proposes the banning of practices like polygamy and bringing in a uniform marriage age for citizens from all communities.

Commenting on the Dhami government’s move, AIMPLB spokesperson Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas said, “We are protesting UCC. This UCC is against the diversity of the country. This is the country of different religions, culture and different languages and we have accepted that diversity. If you try to implement such a Uniform Civil Code, then you are causing a damage to that diversity.”

Ilyas also said, “Secondly, you are forcing a majoritarian point of view on everyone. You have drafted the UCC considering a particular Hindu religion and imposing it on everyone.” He asked if tribals have been exempted from the UCC, why the same yardstick cannot be applied to Muslims too?

The AIMPLB spokesperson said the UCC Bill’s provisions would clash with the Muslim religious laws or personal laws, which are derived from the holy Quran.

“An optional Uniform Civil Code already exists. There are Special Marriage Act and Succession Act. Anyone who does not want to get governed by religious laws, that couple can get married under Special Marriage Act. Religious personal law will not be applicable on that particular couple. They will be governed by secular law. When optional UCC is available, then why there is need of new UCC from the government?” he asked.

Ilyas alleged that the government’s objective behind bringing UCC was to affect the identity of Muslims. “Muslim’s identity is governed by religion. Religious identity is defined by religious laws. If you finish their religious laws, their religious identity will get finished.”

He said the BJP government tabled the UCC Bill ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to send out a message that they have fulfilled their UCC promise.

Ilyas said the AIMPLB’s legal committee was studying the provisions of Uttarakhand’s UCC Bill and that the Board will explore options to seek legal remedies as per the advice of this panel.

The AIMPLB spokesperson asked a big question remained as to “what are you going to achieve from this UCC?”

Some other Muslim bodies also echoed similar concerns. Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind secretary Niaz Ahmed Farooqui said, “Now the UCC document has been made public. We are studying the UCC Bill document because we need solid facts to oppose it.”

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind vice-president Saleem Engineer said that a UCC would not be possible in a country like India which has so much diversity of faiths, cultures, traditions and ethnic groups. He said the UCC has become a political issue being used for communal polarisation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections for political dividends.

“Uttarakhand UCC has provision that tribal will be excluded. If tribals are excluded, then how is it uniform?” he asked.

Engineer also said, “There is not much Muslim population in Uttarakhand but UCC has been brought there. It means, a sense of fear is created among minorities… They are doing it in Uttarakhand as an experiment.”

On the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s next course of action on the issue, he said, “Large population of non-Muslims too do not like such politics and tactics of polarisation. If anything is happening which can damage the society, which can weaken social harmony, peace, social fabric and democratic atmosphere, or affect religious freedom, certainly we will oppose it in a democratic and peaceful manner.”