IUML to garner support of other religious forums in opposing UCC; Muslim bodies to counter BJP's anti-Muslim campaign over UCC

Putting up a strong resistance against the Centre’s move to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Wednesday decided to garner the support of other religious forums also to vehemently oppose it.

IUML leaders said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a strong pitch for the UCC with an eye on the upcoming elections. “The UCC will destroy the country's diversity and culturally diverse society with differing religious beliefs, practices and laws. It would affect not only the Muslim community but many other communities also. Therefore, any move to impose UCC on communities would have serious repercussions,” IUML supremo Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said.

The IUML is also trying to mobilise the support of secular forums of all religious groups to oppose the Centre’s move in favour of the UCC. A communal harmony meeting will be organised soon, its leaders said.

Also Read: Universalisation of personal laws against Constitution, says All India Muslim Personal Law Board after PM Modi's UCC pitch

Meanwhile, Muslim religious outfits in the state are treading cautiously to ensure that the protests against the UCC do not gain a communal colour. In a statement, the Kerala Muslim Jamaath (KMJ) said that the UCC should not be considered a move against any particular community or religion since it also affects the religious practices and beliefs of other communities.

Sources close to the KMJ said the BJP was trying to create an impression that the opposition to the UCC is an anti-Muslim move. Therefore, the Muslim bodies are cautious not to counter the UCC by branding it just as an anti-minority move. Instead, how UCC will affect other communities too.

The KMJ said in the statement that the UCC would affect the beliefs and practices being followed by various tribal communities in the North East as well as many religious and linguistic minorities. UCC would also affect the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion guaranteed by the Constitution.

Various Muslim forums in Kerala were learned to have already conveyed their concerns against UCC to the Law Commission and some had even personally called on the Commission member justice K T Sankaran who was in the state recently.