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'If this was not tokenism, why is the central government not bringing the UCC, why is a small state like Uttarakhand doing so?'
"If different states start interfering in the personal laws then there is a possibility of the law being misused in various states. It can be used to indulge in vote bank politics by trying to secure the votes of one community against the other resulting in polarisation," says Harish Rawat, former Congress chief minister of Uttarakhand.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttarakhand introduced the Uniform Civil Code Uttarakhand 2024 Bill in the assembly on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, the first state in the country to introduce an UCC.
"Instead of the state government bringing in such a law, a law such as this should be brought by the central government, which is in keeping with the intention of the Constitution as given in the Directive Principles of State policy," says Rawat.
"This is tokenism, if this was not tokenism, why is the central government not bringing the UCC, why is a small state like Uttarakhand doing so? If it is really such a good law which will improve the condition of women and remove many wrong practices, then why is the central government not bringing in the UCC?" asks Rawat.
"The bill should only be passed after it has been studied well and time should have been given to the Opposition to study this draft to enable a discussion/debate on the UCC so that the Opposition can present its views," says Rawat.
"We will support the provisions that we think are right and will ask for amendments in the provisions that we think need some changes," the former chief minister adds.
"The rules of the House are being ignored for the passage of the bill. The state government has introduced this bill and wants to rush through its passage in a day."