Directive Principles of Constitution & UCC: AIMPLB Response: Lalit k kaul

 

Directive Principles of Constitution (DPoC) and Uniform Civil Code: AIMPLB Response                                                                                                                                  Lalit K Kaul

Article 37 of the DPoC:

The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforced by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.

Article 44: Uniform Civil Code for Citizens

The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India.

Thankfully the founding Fathers of Constitution kept DPoC outside the purview of “Their Lordships” and “Black Coats”, else at every step of the government in the direction of applying these principles the “honourable” twosome would have put roadblocks and made lots of currency.

Art 37 clearly says: “.... it shall be the duty of the State to ..... in making laws”. Therefore, there can be no confusion about the supremacy of the DPoC that no Parliament, no judiciary, no political party and no citizen can challenge or refuse to adhere to.

Uniform Civil Code (UCC): 

The UCC calls for the formulation of one law for India, which would be applicable to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption. All these are matters related to social, economic and legal issues as related to all the communities. The UCC does not aim to homogenise the religious activities of all religious communities; it does not impinge upon the way Ibadat, Pooja and Ardas is done or the way Jains, Bodh, Christians and Parsis offer their prayers and thus leaving freedom to pray intact as outlined in Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.

The Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India provide, respectively, for the following:

Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion, and

Freedom to manage religious affairs.

What’s the Issue then?

It’s not about religious freedom, it’s about the clout of AIMPLB over the poor and poorer sections of the Muslim society that would lose its grip once UCC is implemented as per DPoC.

In order to maintain its clout on the weaker sections among the Indian Muslims, the AIMPLB even opposed abrogation of instantaneous Triple Talaq that is not even ordained in the Holy Quran. Their opposition was not only irreligious, but it also showed their intent to oppress their womenfolk; the hardest slap on its face was given by the Muslim womenfolk who whole heartedly supported Triple Talaq as being declared illegal and punishable under law.

Therefore the issues under the proposed UCC that give AIMPLB a much bigger clout over social, economical and legal life of their womenfolk- essentially poor and poorer strata of their society- is causing AIMPLB sleepless nights and it’s for that reason a meeting with the PM was arranged and where the PM was told that implementing UCC was unconstitutional! This is smartness bordering stupidity.

Why anyone would take discrimination?

It can be nobody’s argument that the Muslim women are not being discriminated against in matters that are social, economical and legal. The women know it and therefore they are not going to oppose UCC; the hard-core activists of AIMPLB may oppose and create some nuisance. It wouldn’t be surprising if women activists approach the SC and file a writ against the GOI to implement Article 44 of the Constitution as ordained by DPoC. The GOI shall have no argument to offer in opposing the writ petition as DPoC cannot be violated.

More than Religious It’s Political Agenda:

The political agenda is to keep the Muslims as a separate identity from rest of the Indians. The anti CAA protests bordering treason; open declarations of bifurcating India into more number of Pakistan; Moulvis and Muftis giving open calls for digging graves for “Kafirs”, is what AIMPLB promotes. Election speeches by their politicians like Asaddudin Owaisi, Akbaruddin Owaisi and others are a true Xerox copy of M A Jinnah’s address to Muslim League in 1940 at Lahore; that historical speech was the instigator for creation of Pakistan. Therefore, the political issue is that implementing UCC will homogenise the Indian society insofar as matters social, economic and legal are concerned and that would deliver a fatal blow to the aim of balkanizing India since the Muslims would no longer be a separate entity.

What do Common Muslims want?

Muslims are artisans; potters; engaged in iron works; weavers; small time vendors who sell different types of usable and edible on the roadside on small carts; car and bike mechanics; electricians; plumbers; idol makers; small farmers and farm labour; masons; a highly productive people who contribute to GDP through their hard work and intelligence; they learn their art from their elders or an Ustad ( who could be anybody) and don’t go to schools etc. Like their counterparts in other religious groups, engaged in similar productive activities, they are not a burden on tax payer.

They all work together; cooperate with each other cutting all religious barriers and don’t aspire to be a separate Nation. So long as the Maulanas, Moulvis and Muftis don’t succeed in indoctrinating them against the “Kafirs”, they are no different from others insofar as patriotism is concerned.

The threat to Indian integrity is the likes of AIMPLB , Owaisi and their supporters in Kejris, Mamtas and not to forget Sonias et al.

Differentiation is a Must:

It’s not about Muslims in general  but certainly about those ones who have kept the Jinnah Agenda alive and cannot be relied upon much less trusted when it comes to the interests of Indian Nation State.

The GOI need to show such anti nationals their place and build mechanisms that would put a halt to nefarious designs of AIMPLB and their ilk.

The other imperative is that India cannot be allowed to live by 7^th Century CE doctrine; there are many such things in Purans that cannot be put in place today; if Sun sets into a muddy ditch in the evening; the Mother Earth is supposed to be held in balance by a four-legged animal (pig!); in today’s world no sane person can take such concepts as immutable.

Therefore for the sake of Bharat/ Hindustan/ India, the NDA government should go ahead and bring a bill in both the houses of Parliament to enact a law that would make UCC implementable.  The AIMPLB can choose to migrate to a country of their choice .