Amit Shah accuses Congress of appeasement on UCC, says Nehru-signed agenda ignored

Amit Shah declared that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections.

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Uniform Civil Code was a constitutional agenda signed by first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru but the Congress party later ignored it due to its appeasement politics.

Amit Shah also attacked the opposition over the Ram Temple.

"But the Congress had ignored it due to appeasement. The enforcement of the UCC in Uttarakhand is a social change. It will be discussed on all forums and face legal scrutiny. A secular country cannot have religion-based civil codes," Shah said at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2024.

The Uttarakhand assembly, earlier this week, passed the UCC bill, which seeks to replace the religious personal laws with laws applicable to all religions equally. Muslim bodies have opposed the law.

He also made a sharp attack at Rahul Gandhi over his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, saying he had no rights to carry out the yatra because his party was responsible for the partition of the country in 1947.

Amit Shah also attributed the delay in the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya to appeasement.

"However, due to the politics of appeasement and citing law and order, the construction of the Ram temple was not allowed," he said.

Amit Shah on CAA

Meanwhile, Shah declared that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections.

The law, enacted in 2019, makes it easier for non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to get Indian citizenship. The law had triggered a year-long protest by the Muslim community at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh.

"Our Muslim brothers are being misled and instigated (against the CAA). The CAA is only meant to give citizenship to those who came to India after facing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It is not for snatching anyone's Indian citizenship," he said.

Amit Shah claimed the BJP will get 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"We have abrogated Article 370 (of the Constitution, which gave a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir). So we believe that the people of the country will bless the BJP with 370 seats and the NDA with over 400 seats," he said.

UCC rules and Muslim bodies' opposition

One of the highlights of the Uttarakhand UCC rules is the provision of registering live-in relationships. Per the rules, couples will have to register their relationships within one year or face jail term.

The UCC also exempted Uttarakhand's tribal community.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi questioned the exemptions. He also said the implementation of the law was in violation of his fundamental rights.

With inputs from PTI