Singhvi slams govt over consensus for secular civil code, says 'jumlebazi'

Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a secular civil code as 'jumlebazi', senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi says attempts are being made to ram such concepts down the throat of the people for political purposes, often ahead of polls.

Singhvi, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed from Telangana last week, said there is nothing wrong with concepts if they are acted upon through consensus.

"You cannot from the ramparts of Red Fort talk of X Y Z and not take your allies on board before that. Today I am not debating merits but 'One Nation One Election', can you do it without some degree of very high level of consultation. What is the point of saying that 'I am going to have a Uniform Civil Code' but you call it a secular civil code because you know you cannot do it uniformly," the eminent jurist told PTI.

 

"Is it ever contemplated that Uttarakhand will have a UCC but if you step out of a car in Uttar Pradesh, there is no UCC... Is it Uniform Civil Code or is it fooling the people?" the four-time MP said.

"If you are a resident of Uttarakhand it will apply to you, if you start working in Delhi, it will not apply to you. These are the methods to fool the people. You can't fool all of them all the time," Singhvi said, hitting out at the BJP.

There is nothing wrong with concepts if they are implemented with consensus, Singhvi said.

He said calling it a secular civil code was a "gimmick" and a concept cannot be changed by changing the name or the label.

There are several issues in this that cannot be implemented without coordination and consensus, he asserted.

"Whose law would be the minimum standard that would be followed - Parsis, Muslims, Hindus or Christians. So coordination and consensus is needed," he said.

"What is happening is that you are trying to ram these concepts down the throat (of the people), that is the biggest problem. You are creating it for political purposes, to tick off some boxes in your agendas and create a kind of big issue," Singhvi said, noting that it is often done before polls.

Singhvi also hit out at the call for having a secular civil code as 'jumlavad' (rhetoric).

A lot of these things are jumlavad' - sounds nice. 'One Nation One Election', 'One Nation One Language', Uniform Civil Code. This cannot be implemented without consensus," he said.

Singhvi said since the BJP is unable to have a consensus on it, the party could not announce it at the national level.

"By doing jumlebazi, you changed its name to secular civil code. It is there in Assam and Uttarakhand. How is it uniform? So you started calling it secular. This is jumlebaazi. It is to mislead people. If you have the strength then generate a consensus and move forward on it " Singhvi said.

His remarks come days after Prime Minister Modi said a "secular civil code" is the need of the hour for the country, as he described the existing set of laws as "communal civil code" and termed them discriminatory.

In his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi had said, "A large section of the country believes, which is true also, that the civil code is actually in a way is a communal civil code. It discriminates (among people)."

He said laws which divide the country on communal lines and become a reason for inequality have no place in a modern society.