Kozhikode (Kerala) | The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key ally of the opposition Congress in Kerala, on Tuesday said the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) cannot be opposed by taking to the streets, rather it has to be countered legally and politically. In furtherance of that, IUML said that it would be holding 'model seminars' in many parts of the state as well as the country where all political parties and religious groups opposed to the UCC would be invited, without any differences, for building awareness against it.
The decision to hold seminars was taken by the party in a meeting held here during the day, IUML state chief Sayyid Sadik Ali Shihab Thangal told reporters.
Thangal said that UCC was not an issue affecting Muslims alone, as was being propagated, rather it would adversely affect the social system of the entire nation.
"So everyone has to respond to it strongly, collectively and responsibly. This is not an issue which needs to be opposed by taking to the streets.
"Instead, it has to be countered legally and politically for which we need support of all political parties," he said.
He also said that representatives of all political parties and religious groups, without any difference, who are opposed to UCC would be invited to the 'model seminars'.
While calling for a collective effort to counter UCC, Thangal also cautioned against any religious polarisation and said that it would be unacceptable.
Explaining the reasoning behind Thangal cautioning against religious polarisation, IUML national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty said that while everyone opposed to UCC was united against the BJP in Delhi, at the state-level there were differences.
"These differences should not lead to any unrest in a state," he said.
Kunhalikutty said that the agenda behind the UCC is to create communal problems or make it an election topic and "we do not want anyone to fall into that trap".
"If anyone tries to gain advantage from the trap through seminars or any other programmes, that is not right. It should not happen," he said after the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala recently called for a seminar of all secular forces on the UCC issue and reached out to Samastha, a body of Muslim scholars, and IUML regarding the same.
Kunhalikutty also made it clear that the focus should be on the danger posed by UCC and not on Kerala politics, an apparent reference to the verbal duel between the ruling CPI(M) in the state and the opposition Congress on who is more concerned over implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.
He, however, refused to answer queries of reporters regarding the CPI(M)'s overtures to the IUML in connection with the UCC-related seminars that the Left party is planning to hold in the state.
The overtures had upset the Congress which had, subsequently, accused the Left party of turning the UCC into a Hindu versus Muslim issue for gaining political mileage.
A day after CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan reached out to Muslim
organisations in the state, including IUML, for discussions on the UCC issue, the Congress claimed that the Left party was "walking the same path" as the BJP that was allegedly trying to create communal unrest and divide the people by pushing for implementation of the UCC.
The Left government countered the allegation by saying that the reaction of the Congress indicated their apprehension over both the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the CPI(M) sharing similar views regarding the UCC.
A strong political debate was kicked off in the state over the UCC after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last week, made a strong push for implementing the UCC by asking how the country can function with dual laws that govern personal matters.
He had advocated for the UCC while addressing BJP workers in Bhopal in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.