Gujarat's former Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday backed the party's decision to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state by saying that UCC is necessary for the country's unity just like scrapping of Article 370 was in Jammu and Kashmir.
"I believe that there should be a Uniform Civil Code. From Jana Sangh till today, our ideology has been that if India has to move forward, there should be only one law for every citizen, only then the integrity of all of us will be saved," Vijay Rupani told ANI.
"There should be a common civil code, there should be one law, and there should be different laws for different religions," he added.
Lashing out at political parties practising appeasement, Rupani said, "The country is not benefitted from appeasement politics. Appeasement leads to friction between two religions, so it is better that a common civil code is implemented."
Taking note of the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, Rupani said, "We used to hear the drawbacks of Article 370 since Jana Sangh days. Kashmir is an integral part of India. Article 370 was destroying our integrity. And this is the reason why our government abolished Article 370 from Kashmir in the interest of the country. In the same way, the UCC is necessary for the unity of the country, so the Gujarat government will take the initiative."
Earlier on Saturday, The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday released the party's manifesto for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly polls, which are slated to be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5.
The party manifesto, released by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, BJP national president JP Nadda, and state party president CR Paatil, has made at least 40 promises including the complete implementation of the Gujarat Uniform Civil Code Committee's recommendations.
"We will ensure the complete implementation of the Gujarat Uniform Civil Code Committee's recommendation and create more than one lakh government jobs for women in the next five years," Nadda said on the release of the manifesto.
Earlier the Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh governments had announced their decision to implement the Uniform Civil Code.
Uniform Civil Code is a proposal in India to formulate and implement personal laws of citizens which apply to all citizens equally regardless of their religion, gender and sexual orientation.
Many political leaders have backed the UCC saying that it will bring equality in the country.
However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has termed it "an unconstitutional and anti-minorities move", and called the rhetoric for bringing the law an attempt by Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Central governments to divert the attention from the concerns of inflation, economy, and rising unemployment.
The Centre earlier this month told the Supreme Court that it could not direct Parliament to frame or enact any law on Uniform Civil Code in the country.
The Ministry of Law and Justice in its affidavit stated that the matter of policy is for the elected representatives of the people to decide and no direction in this regard can be issued by the Centre. "It is for the legislature to enact or not to enact a piece of legislation," the ministry told the apex court.
Notably, in Bharatiya Janata Party's 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, BJP promised the implementation of UCC if it comes to power.
( With inputs from ANI )
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