Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to create division in society through the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Speaking to mediapersons in Kannur, he said in Kerala, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] was treading the same path as the BJP with regards to the UCC by stirring up communalism.
The Law Commission appointed by the Narendra Modi government in 2018 had stated that there was no need to implement the UCC. The Congress held the same view. However, even before the draft Bill was out, the BJP was discussing UCC ahead of the elections to create division among people and take political advantage. The BJP was trying to make it a Hindu-Muslim issue, Mr. Satheesan said.
The Leader of the Opposition said that the implementation of the UCC would affect not just Muslims, but other caste and religious groups as well. No one should fall in that trap.
In Kerala, the CPI(M) was adopting the same strategy as the BJP at the national level to create division among people. “The CPI(M) says that it will protest against the UCC, but their statement is not sincere. The CPI(M) is yet to withdraw the cases taken during the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), but is calling for an agitation against the UCC,” he said. The CPI(M) was trying to take political advantage. It panicked when it heard that the Sunni sects were uniting, he added.
The UDF would organise a strong agitation against the UCC. The UDF meeting scheduled for July 10 will decide the mode of the agitation, he said.
‘CPI(M)-BJP deal’
Mr. Satheesan said that as the Central agencies were probing cases against the Chief Minister, the CPI(M) had entered into a deal with the BJP. “Did not Pinarayi Vijayan, who filed a case against KPCC president K. Sudhakaran, exempt BJP State president K. Surendran from the money-laundering case? He tried to save Mr. Surendran and put Mr. Sudhakaran in jail,” he added.
No case was registered on the disclosure of G. Sakthidharan, former associate editor of Deshabhimani, the party newspaper, of corruption among the top CPI(M) leadership. However, a case was registered against Mr. Sudhakaran based on the statement of the driver of fake antiquities dealer Monson Mavunkal that he was witness to ₹10 lakh being paid to Mr. Sudhakaran, he said.
“Will the police file only case against Congress leaders? This will not be tolerated,” he added.
