At seminar on UCC, CPI(M) leader M.V. Govindan alleges attempt to convert India into Hindutva nation

At a seminar in Kozhikode, Kerala Haj Committee chairman Mohammed Faizi said apprehensions about UCC are justifiable. CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said UCC is a weapon to convert India into a Hindutva nation.

Kerala Haj Committee chairman Mohammed Faizi has said that apprehensions about the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) are justifiable as it will replace around a thousand personal laws in the country.

“There are people who misuse personal laws and defy them. There is an urgent need to create awareness among the masses about them,” he said at the seminar on the UCC organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] in Kozhikode on Saturday.

Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama leader Mukkam Umar Faizi said no one really knew what the UCC was, and that the recent hype over it was a scare tactic. “The makers of the Indian Constitution could not come to a conclusion over the UCC despite discussing it for around three years. Then how can the Centre implement it now without any discussions?” he said.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan alleged that the UCC was a weapon to convert India into a Hindutva nation by 2025 when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) would celebrate its 100th anniversary. He added that the UCC would take India back to the era of ‘Chatur Varnyam’ and ‘Manusmriti’ while destroying the country’s diversity.

E.K. Vijayan, MLA, said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was resorting to divisive tactics to shift attention from important issues, citing the way the wrestlers who protested against sexual harassment by a BJP leader were dealt with by the Centre.

Lokthanthrik Janata Dal leader M.V. Sreyams Kumar said the BJP was likely to rewrite the Constitution if it came to power once again.

MP Elamaram Kareem, All India Democratic Women’s Association chairperson P.K. Sreemathi, Kerala Women’s Commission Chairperson P. Sathidevi, Kerala Muslim Jamaat State secretary M. Ali Abdullah, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen leaders T.P. Abdullakkoya Maudani and Hussain Madavoor, Muslim Educational Society president Fazal Gafoor, T.K. Ashraf of Wisdom Islamic Organisation, Father Joseph Kalarikkal from the Thamarassery Diocese, Father Jenson from the Kozhikode Diocese, Rev. T.I. James representing the Church of South India, Arayakandy Santhosh from SNDP Yogam, O.R. Kelu of Adivasi Kshema Samithi, and Punnala Sreekumar of Kerala Pulayar Mahasabha spoke at the seminar.