India News | NCM Chief Refuses to Comment on Move to Bring UCC in U'khand, Other States

New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) National Commission for Minorities (NCM) chairperson Iqbal Singh Lalpura on Wednesday refused to comment on some BJP-ruled states proposing to implement the Uniform Civil Code, saying without going through the draft legislation he would not like to make a remark.

On repeated queries at a press conference, he said the commission will go through the draft of the common code, when it comes before it, to see if there is any deficiency in it which interferes with somebody's right to religion and follow religious practices.

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"The draft (of the Uniform Civil Code) has not come to me. We will see the draft and discuss it. We have people (members) from all minority communities here (in the NCM). We cannot comment on this without knowing the draft (legislation)," Lalpura said.

"Whatever is there in the draft that has to be seen in order to find out if there is any deficiency in it. The draft (law) has to be seen in the light of all existing codes to understand if they (state governments) are making them (existing codes) better or they are taking away something personal from the communities," he said.

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Lalpura said that "you have to see in totality, are they interfering in the religious activities of a religion or somebody's freedom of religion".

Discussions over the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is gaining pace in the country after the Uttarakhand government under Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami approved the constitution of a committee to implement the proposed code in the state soon after the BJP returned to power winning assembly polls in March.

Implementing the UCC was one of the poll promises of the BJP in the state.

Last month, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the state government is also thinking seriously in the direction of the implementation of the UCC in the state, and favoured its expeditious implementation in the country as well.

With the BJP pulling out all stops to retain power in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur recently lauded the UCC as a good concept and said his government was open to implementing it.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)