Now that the UCC final draft has been handed over to you, what is the next step?
It is a momentous day for not only Uttarakhand but the entire country.We have laid the foundation stone and created a template which other states can follow. It has been a two-year-long exercise. The draft has been prepared after a wide range of consultations with people, including those in the remotest corners. A cabinet meeting has been called on Saturday, and the proposal would be passed. The bill will be tabled in the special session of the state assembly starting Feb 5. We had promised UCC to the people before the assembly elections, and they had voted us back to power on the issue. So, it feels good to have fulfilled this promise.
What was the need for bringing UCC?
Why shouldn’t we provide equal civil rights and human rights to all, especially women? We keep on hearing about women being deprived of property rights, inheritance and injustice done to them in matters of divorce. We believe there should be equal rights for everyone, irrespective of their religion. UCC will provide a legal framework for marriage, divorce, land, property, and inheritance for all irrespective of their faith. It will help bring social harmony, end gender discrimination and strengthen women empowerment.
Opposition parties are opposing the UCC, saying their views were ignored. How do you react to this?
Where were the leaders of these parties when the draft panel had invited them for a meeting to give their suggestions? Adequate time was given, but they preferred to boycott the meeting. Now when we have gone ahead with our objective of bringing uniformity in society, Congress and its leaders are issuing baseless statements to mislead people. Have they even seen the draft? If they were serious, they could have given their suggestions on time rather than making efforts now to grab the limelight. I would like to request opposition parties to have a healthy and elaborate discussion when the bill is tabled.
The process to prepare the draft has been questioned by a few in the opposition…
A completely transparent process has been followed. Besides reaching out to a cross-section of people, we have used technology (web portal, WhatsApp, and SMS) to take public opinion, suggestions, and feedback. Two days were allotted to political parties to give their suggestions. A total of 72 meetings were held, and 2.3 lakh suggestions were received. The five-member panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Ranjana Desai, formed two sub-committees, which visited even the remotest areas and collected feedback. We started with Mana village, which was earlier referred to as the last Indian village on the China border and is now addressed as the first Indian village, and meetings were held at 43 different locations. The draft is in four volumes. All the points have been exhaustively covered, and several experts have been consulted. How much more transparency do these people need?
While UCC is being appreciated by BJP-governed states, why are other states opposed to it?
Congress was in power in the Centre for decades, but it failed to do anything to implement UCC. We have brought UCC. This was our commitment to the people of Uttarakhand, and they showed faith by voting us back to power. Therefore, we reciprocated their trust and our first major move was to start the process of UCC.
Watch Dehradun: Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai submits final UCC report to Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami