UCC move part of RSS’ ‘Hindu Rashtra’ agenda: INL

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The Indian National League (INL) has said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would be implemented in 21 BJP-NDA ruled States before the 2029 Lok Sabha polls should be viewed as part of the long-standing agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to establish a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

INL State president Ahammad Devarkovil and general secretary Kasim Irikkur said on Tuesday (September 15) that the Sangh Parivar’s objective was to impose the culture, laws, and the way of life of the majority community on all sections of people in the country and thereby establish the ‘Hindu Rashtra’ it envisaged.

They alleged that the UCC was being projected as a political trump card at a time when the Sangh Parivar was facing a crisis, with the government having been forced onto the back foot following student-led protests and allegations of fund misuse at the Ayodhya temple.

“The BJP has begun intensifying its communal politics with an eye on next year’s Assembly elections in five States, including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Uttarakhand became the first State in the country to implement the UCC, while BJP-ruled Gujarat, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh have also adopted it as a model. Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan are preparing to introduce the UCC,” the INL leaders said.

The INL said the Centre was aware that passing a UCC applicable across the country would not be easy as it would face stiff opposition from various groups. They alleged that Mr. Shah’s statement was an attempt to initiate the process through the “backdoor”.

The leaders said that implementing the UCC amounted to an attack on the constitutional principles of equality and freedom of religion. “The secular sections of society should unitedly resist any attempt to dismantle India’s pluralistic social order and impose the culture of the majority community on the country’s minorities,” they said.

The INL leaders also urged the Congress, Left parties, and other secular forces to join hands and oppose the move.

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