Dehradun: Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Yashpal Arya on Tuesday said it would have been better if members were allowed enough time to study the Uniform Civil Code bill and suggested that it should be referred to a select committee of the House to examine its provisions.
Participating in a debate on the bill after its introduction in the House, BJP leaders said the state has made history by bringing in the legislation and blamed the "politics of appeasement" for the non-implementation of a Uniform Civil Code in the country over the years. Arya said there are 392 sections in the bill which runs into 172 pages and it would have been better if the opposition members were allowed enough time to study it in detail for a positive debate on its provisions in the House.
The Congress leader also said the committee of experts that prepared the draft of the UCC should also have included theologists of different religions. "India is a pluralistic country. Different religions have 10 different civil laws here," he said. Arya suggested that the bill should be referred to a select committee of the House to examine its provisions.
State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Premchand Aggarwal said many Islamic countries have implemented the UCC and even Muslim women of Uttarakhand have hailed Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami's step to bring it in the state.
Describing the UCC as a concept introduced by RSS founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Aggarwal credited its introduction in the state assembly to the "charismatic leadership" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who also "made possible" the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 (A) in Jammu and Kashmir and the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.
"Many things which could not be done by successive governments due to the politics of appeasement have been done under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Modi," he said. The UCC bill seeks to give equal marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption rights to men and women across all faiths and communities which is a historic step towards "realising the prime minister's prophecy that the current decade of the 21st century belongs to Uttarakhand", Aggarwal said.
Cabinet Minister Rekha Arya described the UCC bill as a big step towards social reform taken by the BJP government. It will protect the human rights of women across all religions. She praised Chief Minister Dhami for showing the "courage and determination" to fulfil a promise he had made to the people of the state. He has proved once again that BJP governments do what they say, the minister said.
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