Former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. File
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Describing the proposed “secular civil code” as an inclusive reform, senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said illustrious personalities like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the constituent Assembly were in favour of a “uniform secular civil code”.
During the Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday had referred to Article 44 of the Constitution that prescribes a uniform civil code throughout India. “The need of the hour is a secular civil code, only then will we be free of the discrimination on the basis of religion. It is our duty to fulfil the vision of our Constitution makers,” he said.
Speaking to the presspersons on the issue, Mr. Naqvi said there was a need to remain “conscious and cautious” of the “conspiracy of communal confusion on secular civil code”. For the past 75 years, the country had been waiting for the constitutional guidelines of “uniform secular civil code” to become a reality, but every time “this inclusive reform has been a victim of communal” objections, he said.
In the constituent Assembly, Dr. Ambedkar and several other great personalities were in favour of a “uniform secular civil code”. However, owing to a confusion created on communal lines by a few narrow-minded and prejudiced persons, the constitutional commitment was hijacked and the uniform civil code remained a part of the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution, said the BJP leader.
Stating that the mood of the nation was for setting the code free from “communal confinement”, he said that a secular civil code was the need of the hour.
When asked about the controversy over the seating arrangement for Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi at the Red Fort on Independence Day, Mr. Naqvi said the Congress should come out of “feudal arrogance” and stop their “ruckus on row”. On the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata, he accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of shielding criminals.
