- Sachin Pilot said the BJP-led Centre has bowled the UCC issue as a “googly” to divert attention from the real issues concerning people.
- Pilot alleged that there is nothing on a UCC in the standing committees or Parliament and the talks are just based on a ‘rhetorical political speech’.
- Amid an ongoing debate on the implementation of UCC, Ghulam Nabi Azad said it is not as easy as abrogation of Article 370.
- It is to both divide Muslims and Hindus again and to consolidate the latter’s vote for the all-important general elections of 2024.-Experts say.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot said the BJP-led Centre has bowled this (Uniform Civil Code) “googly” to divert attention from the real issues concerning people. He said the talk about the UCC is just “kite-flying” as there is no concrete proposal.
Pilot alleged that there is nothing on a UCC in the standing committees or Parliament and the talks are just based on a ‘rhetorical political speech’. There is no concrete proposal on a UCC and it is just being used by the BJP-led Centre as a ‘political tool’, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for a UCC, saying the Constitution calls for equal rights for all citizens while addressing a gathering of BJP workers in Bhopal last month.
“I am all for gender equality, of making people get justice in every way, in personal life or inheritance, but there has to be a proper format. Why are we not talking about issues that are far more important as opposed to this divisive agenda, which is still kite-flying?” the former Rajasthan deputy chief minister asked.
There is nothing that has been said by the standing committee or in Parliament and it is just a rhetorical political speech that evokes reactions, he said.
“Once you have the provocative issue being discussed in television studios and other places, then will people stop talking about the prices of tomatoes being over Rs 100 a kg, the jobs at hand, the inflation, the problem the economy is facing and all the challenges that we are having at hand — those then get diluted,” Pilot said.
Let the government come forward with what it wants to say as only different noises are heard from it to keep the newsrooms occupied with reactions and counter-reactions, he added.
“We have to talk about issues that matter to people. That is far more important. They (the government) have bowled a googly, and now keep discussing it. The debate will continue. No one knows anything about the proposal. The central government deliberately works to divert attention so that there is no discussion on inflation,” the former Union minister alleged.
Amid an ongoing debate on the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Democratic Progressive Azad Party chief Ghulam Nabi Azad said it is not as easy as abrogation of Article 370. “It has all religions, not only Muslims, but it has Sikhs, Christians, tribals, Jains, and Parsis,” Azad said, adding angering so many people isn’t good for any government.
