NDA's move to bring in UCC is obnoxious: Rights groups

With the Law Commission seeking public opinion on Uniform Civil Code, civil society members and women rights groups today attacked the NDA government over the issue, saying it is an "obnoxious" move aimed at targeting minorities.
The organisations, including ANHAD and AIDWA, said the Commission's move is "merely a stick" in the hand of the government "to beat up" minorities, while the personal laws of Hindu and Christian communities are "deficient" in terms of gender justice.
The also hit out at the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) over its stand on triple talaq, saying it's a retrograde stance that lacks sense of justice and insisted that the practice be abolished.

"The move of the NDA government to stealthily bring in the issue of UCC is obnoxious and condemnable. UCC is a politically motivated RSS-BJP agenda and is merely a stick in their hands to beat up the minorities, particularly Muslims," they said in a joint statement.
The decision to seek feedback diverts attention from the basic issue of gender justice. Uniformity in law does not necessarily mean equality, they asserted.
"All personal laws, including of Hindu and Christian communities, are deficient in terms of gender justice. Even today, Hindu laws related to property rights and guardianship of children are unequal and unjust and continue to discriminate against women. We, therefore, demand the government retracts its steps on UCC," they said.

The organisations though said the practice of triple talaq should be done away with.
Targeting the AIMPLB on the issue, they said, "The position of the board, the self-styled representatives of Muslims, in this regard is retrograde, lacks a sense of justice and therefore reprehensible."
Besides ANHAD's Shabnam Hashmi and All India Democratic Women's Association (Delhi) general secretary Asha Sharma, the statement is signed by All India Progressive Women's Association's secretary Kavita Krishnan, National Federation of Indian Women (Delhi) president Noor Zaheer, Swastika Mahila Samiti's Kusum Sehgal and others.