Indian government has no business to interfere in the customary laws and religious practices of social groups, tribals, Dalits and religious communities, said the leaders of religious minorities, Dalit and tribal groups on Wednesday.
At a meeting held at YMCA Delhi, organisations, All India Backwards and Minority Communities Employees Federation ( BAMCEF ), Shiromani Akali Dal Delhi, Confederation of Dalit and Tribals Organisations, All India Ravidasiya Dharam Sangathan, National Conference for Minorities, Sikh Personal Law Board, Federation of Catholic Associations of Archdiocese of Delhi, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Sikh Talmail group, Committee For Protection of Religious & Cultural Diversities, and activitists, it was unanimously resolved that the government of India should not interfere in the traditions, customs, and religion of various communities.
The meeting categorically observed that the one nation one law view of the Uniform Civil Code is a pernicious attempt to intervene in the social and religious affairs of various communities and groups.
“Earlier, we we had a round table on UCC and arrived to a unanimous resolution. It was released to the press in a press conference held at Press Club of India,” said SQR Ilyas, spokesman of AIMPLB.
“We, the members of the Minority communities, Dalits and Tribals want to unitedly proclaim that UCC is a threat to the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution,” read the resolution.
“The government has no business to interfere in the customary laws and religious practices of social groups, tribals, Dalits, and religious communities,” read the resolution. It went on to allege that the Union government intends to ‘scrap reservation in the garb of equality’.
“We, the members and leaders of Minority communities, Dalits and Tribal groups, take the pledge that: We will protect religious, cultural and all fundamental rights enshrined in our Constitution, we will strongly condemn and oppose the design of the government and collectively reject the UCC and will ensure that the life and property of every citizen is safeguarded and it is a fundamental and constitutional duty of the government to do so. We will prevent the desecration of religious books and places of worship and protect the Churches, Mosques, Gurdwaras and other religious places from being burnt or destroyed. We will prevent all attempts to illegally occupy the places of worships of other groups and will demand that the ‘Worship Places Act of 1991, will be implemented in letter & spirit. We will uphold the federal and plural structure of our country and our secular and democratic character will be respected and protected by the Government, political parties and by all the citizens of the country,” added the resolution.
“We take the pledge that we shall strive to ensure peace, safety and security, justice and a dignified life for every citizen of the country. We shall strive to end all forms of injustice, discrimination and harassment,” it added.
Taking into account the prevailing situation in Manipur, the gathering urged the government to take effective steps to ensure peace in the region without compromising the rights of the tribals.
Naba Saraniya, Assam MP, Ashok Bharti, President, Confederation of Dalit and Tribals Organisations, R. Sukhdev Waghmare, Head, All India Ravidasiya Dharam Sangathan, Rahul Dambale, National Conference of Minorities, Prof. Jagmohan Singh, Convener, Sikh Personal Law Board, Syed Sadatullah Husaini, Vice President, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Waman Meshram, President, All India Backwards and Minority Communities Employees Federation ( BAMCEF ), Ml Md. Fazlur Raheem Mujaddidi, General Secretary, All India Muslim Personal Law Board, A C Michael, President, Federation of Catholic Associations of Archdiocese of Delhi, Sardar Daljit Singh, Talmail group Amritsar, Dr. Adv. MP Raju, Rajender Pal Gautam, MLA, Delhi Ml Ahmad Faisal Rahmani, Ameer e Shariat, Sister Adv. Mary Scaria, Eng. Mohd Saleem, Naib Ameer, Jamat-e-Islami, Hind, Adv. P I Jose, Kamal Faruqui, Executive Member, AIMPLB, Fahad Rahmani, Director, Rahmani Foundation and Dr. S. Q. R. Ilyas, Convener Committee For Protection of Religious & Cultural Diversities were present in the meeting.
