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Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan explains how other parties supported UCC; ‘first Left then BJP’
The Kerala Governor explains how other parties including the Left were betting for the UCC, at least till 1990.
There are political parties in India who had Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in their election manifestoes and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not the only one, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday claimed that even Left was among those who were ‘great advocates’ of UCC.
He said that he is ‘not defending any political party’, however, added that questions shouldn't be asked to a particular party which is ‘taking a consistent line’ in this matter. “I think questions should be posed to those who were great votaries of UCC, at least till 1999,” he told news agency ANI.
“Now, some of them have changed their stand, they need to explain. It should not be the other way round,” he said.
In an interview with India Today, the Governor backed the UCC, as opposed to the CPI(M)-led Kerala government which is opposing it alleging that it is ‘discriminatory against Muslims’. He further said that the Left parties were betting for the UCC, ‘at least till 1990’, including former Kerala CM EMS Namboodiripad.
Arif Mohammed Khan is known for his unconventional approach in his views as compared with that of traditional Muslim organisations. He has also taken progressive stand on the Shah Bano case and has been a supporter of reformation within the Muslim community.
He said that the UCC will serve the cause of uniformity of justice and no one will be discriminated on the ground of religion. He further reiterated that the purpose of law cannot be to bring about uniformity in customs, ritual or practices or labelling these differences. “The purpose of the law is to bring about unifomity of justice,” he added.
While speaking with News18, Khan argued that if the Muslim Personal Law is integral to practicing Islam, why isn't there no fatwas against Muslims living in countries where these personal laws are not allowed. He referred to countries, predominantly the West, where civil laws personal to any religion or faith are not implemented as part of their judicial process.
"Why does everyone want to run to the US or Europe where there are no personal laws? Muslims can live as Muslims in the US and UK or in Pakistan without personal law, but India is the only exception where they cannot if personal law is not there,” he added.
