Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah on Monday said that he “won’t oppose the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) till Centre drafts an official proposal”.
During an interview with Jansatta, Omar Abdullah said. “Not preempting anything before a proposal comes. If UCC is implemented in a uniform manner and will include every community, then we might talk. But if some communities, like the tribes of northeast, get an exemption, then even Muslims will ask for it. Then what would be the point of a Uniform Civil Code?”
Also Read: Law Commission sets ball rolling on Uniform Civil Code, seeks public views within 30 days
Abdullah was talking about UCC days after the 22nd Law Commission of India on June 14 called for the views of public and religious organisations on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). According to the notice, the “public at large” and “recognised religious organisations” can send their views on the UCC within 30 days.
The UCC is a directive principle under the Constitution, meant to be a single set of personal laws that would apply to all citizens equally. It refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and succession.
Abrogation of Article 370
On being asked if INDIA alliance comes to power in 2024, will his party push for rolling back abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, Abdullah expressed his disappointment in the leaders of parties who were expected to give their support but did not against the abrogation and said that he now has “very limited expectation from the Opposition alliance”.
“The National Conference has limited expectations from the alliance on Article 370 because we have a very limited role in the alliance with only 6 seats, including Ladakh, but we will continue our fight in the Supreme Court. However, I expect that there would be no objection for our appeal for the restoration of statehood,” Abdullah told Jansatta.
On August 2, the Supreme Court is set to hear at least 23 petitions challenging the Centre’s decision which abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019.
The Article 370 had given special status to Jammu and Kashmir and had restricted the Parliament’s power even though it was a “temporary provision” in J&K when it was initially introduced.
Who suggested the Opposition alliance name?
Recently, the Opposition alliance met in Bengaluru for its second key meet and decided to name the alliance – I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).
Omar Abdullah’s JKNC is also a part of the 26 parties forming the Opposition alliance. On Monday, when Omar Abdullah was asked about how the alliance decided the name, he said “It took the whole day for the alliance to decide the name. The whole process involved extensive discussions by the leaders of the 26 parties. There were disagreements over including NDA in the name of the alliance.”
“After a lot of discussions, there was a mutual agreement on naming the opposition alliance as INDIA. Leaders from different sides proposed different names. Some of the leaders suggested IMF – Indian Main Front and some wanted to name the alliance IMA – Indian Main Alliance,” he said.
He further said, “However, the Opposition alliance’s name as INDIA had a huge impact on the BJP and no other name could have done that. I guess the name – INDIA – was suggested by Congress. The social media team of the grand old party Congress conducted a thorough research on the name and then it was proposed.”
The Opposition meeting was held on July 17 and 18 in Bengaluru with over 26 parties in attendance with an aim to build a strategy to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.