Lucknow: A delegation of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Sunday met Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav here over the issue of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and said it is an attempt to "snatch fundamental rights of minorities and tribals".
The delegation comprising prominent clerics, including AIMPLB member Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali and Maulana Bilal Hasan Nadvi, handed over a memorandum to Yadav against the Centre's proposed move to implement the UCC in the country. The SP chief assured the delegation of his party's support.
According to party's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury, Yadav said, "For the BJP, religion and religious work is only a way to do politics. BJP plays with faith and public trust. The SP is committed for democracy and secularism." In the memorandum, AIMPLB said, "The Constitution of the country has given protection to religious freedom and cultural identity. Every citizen of the country was given the right to have faith according to his religion, to follow and propagate it. Under this, personal laws of minorities and tribals have special protection and in family matters every person is allowed to follow his religion."
The central and state governments often tried to attack religious and cultural freedom and impose a particular religion and culture on all people, the memorandum said. "One of their clear objectives is to merge other religious units into the majority culture. In recent years, many such laws have been made which are violating the fundamental rights given in the Constitution," it added.
The memorandum said that this move (bringing UCC) will be protested and added that the UCC is an attempt to "snatch fundamental rights of minorities and tribals" and is condemnable. "We collectively denounce UCC. Imposing it on any section of the country without its consent is actually a malicious attempt to erase its identity," it said.
"The protection of the places of worship and holy places of every religious unit is the constitutional responsibility of the government. Any attempt by any community to claim or forcibly occupy the place of worship of another community is condemnable. We will collectively fight every such attempt," the memorandum added.
It also demanded action against encroachment on Waqf land by "government and private persons" and said if needed, an agitation could also be launched for this. "It will be our endeavour that all the religious and social units of the country play their role together in the development of the country. We all will try to establish peace, security and justice in the country and end injustice and atrocities," the memorandum added. (PTI)
