After late-night meet, Muslim law board pans PM's UCC pitch

NEW DELHI: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), in a meeting that went on till late on Tuesday night, condemned PM Narendra Modi's strong pitch for Uniform Civil Code and objected to "indirect attempts to connect UCC to only the Muslim community".

The board has decided to reach out to stakeholders across different religions, tribal communities and political parties to drive home the point that a common code was not in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution. The board will send its response to the Law Commission next week.

AIMPLB spokesperson SQR Ilyas refuted speculation that the board's meeting on Tuesday was a result of the PM's strong pitch for UCC. "The meeting was already scheduled for a discussion on the board's view on UCC and its response to the Law Commission. However, since the PM spoke of it during the day, members from across organisations reaffirmed their opposition to UCC and condemned the indirect attempt to connect UCC to only the Muslim community," Ilyas said.

The Board will release a formal statement after it sends its opinion to the Law Commission. For now, it will approach religious groups, tribal communities and political parties. "We will also reach out to parties that are in support of UCC to explain our point of view to them. We will seek time from the President and the PM to put forth our concerns," Ilyas said.

Given that AIMPLB had submitted a detailed response to the law panel before the latter put out its consultative paper in 2018, board members said this time, they are focusing on elaborating why UCC is not the answer.