Chandigarh, July 14, 2023 (Yes Punjab News)
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today informed the 22nd Law Commission that the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was not in the nation’s interest and enforcing it without a genuine countrywide inter-faith consensus, especially among minorities, would violate the spirit of the Constitution and generate fear, distrust and divisive sentiments.
In a letter sent to the Member, Secretary of the Commission by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, the party noted “uniformity should not be confused with unity. India symbolizes unity in diversity and not in uniformity. Only a truly federal structure can resolve our problems and make India a global superpower”
Urging the union government not to go ahead with the idea of a Uniform Civil Code, the SAD president also urged the centre to respect the sentiments of the patriotic Sikh community on UCC before taking any decision on the issue. “This is important as peace and communal harmony in the sensitive border State of Punjab must always remain a top national priority”.
The SAD president also informed the Commission that the party had held consultations with different stake-holders in the State and outside. “On the basis of that, the widespread impression we gathered is that the UCC, if implemented, will definitely affect the freedom of minority communities of different caste, creed and religions”.
The letter also noted that the SAD believed in safeguarding democracy and federalism with emphasis on greater autonomy to the States. It said a genuinely federal structure in the country was a prerequisite for protecting the fundamental rights of religious, linguistic, ethnic and regional minorities. It said a truly integrated, federal vision was also the best guarantee for economic progress to give the country its destined role as a global economic super power.
The letter also noted that since no draft of the proposed UCC had been prepared and circulated along with the notice issued by the Law Commission regarding the proposed amendments in the present personal laws of different religions it was impossible to make any tangible suggestions on the issue. It said a concrete draft, outlining all the details of the proposed legislation should be prepared and circulated among the people throughout the country so that they could provide the desired response.
It also noted that the issue had already been examined in depth by the 21st Law Commission which had in its report in 2018 noted that UCC was neither necessary nor desirable at this stage. It said the Commission also observed that reforms in family laws of different communities would provide better guarantee of securing rights of women and children than bringing in Uniform Civil Laws.
It also detailed how the Commission emphasized that cultural diversity must not be compromised and that nothing should be done to pose even a remote threat to the idea of ‘unity in diversity’ and eventually pose threat to the country’s territorial integrity. It said in this light there was nothing significant after 2018 to compel the union government to seek views of stakeholders afresh.
Mr Sukhbir Badal in his letter also detailed how the SAD as a democratic and secular party had always been committed to the idea that India was a multi-religious, multicultural and multilingual society, with Unity in Diversity as its binding force. He said Sikh identity was defined on the day of Baisakhi in 1699 when the Tenth Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji founded the Khalsa Panth and bestowed on it a unique identity as a separate faith.
“This identity was later inalienably linked with Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal living Guru of the Sikhs and coupled with its unique customs and culture of Sikhism is more important to us than life itself. The younger Sahibzadas of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji preferred martyrdom to life in order to demonstrate that for the Sikhs, the Khalsa identity supersedes even life”.
Mr Badal also disclosed that in the historic Anandpur Sahib Resolution passed in 1978 in Ludhiana, the SAD resolved to uphold and safeguard the vision of India as a federal entity of various languages, religions and cultures. He said the late patron of the party and five times chief minister – S Parkash Singh Badal was the greatest champion of this vision and devoted his entire life to safeguarding peace and communal harmony and human brotherhood.
He also detailed how the framers of the Constitution kept the Uniform Civil Code in the Concurrent List. He said after a detailed discussion on UCC it was decided not to put it in the list of Fundamental Rights but in the Directive Principles of State Policy.
The SAD also noted that the proposed UCC would also affect Social Tribes who have their own diverse customs, culture and different personal laws. “It will thus un-necessarily cause disturbance and unrest in the country, especially in North Eastern states which enjoy special exemptions from certain laws under article 371 of the Constitution”, Mr Badal added.
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