'Cannot Accept Any Law That Is Against Shariah': Jamiat To Challenge Uttarakhand's UCC In Courts

Jamiat President Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani termed the UCC as unconstitutional and described its implementation as an attack on democracy. 

File photo of Jamiat president Maulana Arshad Madani.

Source : Ajatika Singh

The Uttarakhand government has become the first state to roll out the Uniform Civil Code on Monday (January 27). The move, which promotes equal laws for every citizen across all religions, received strong opposition from several Muslim organisations.

The Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind issued a statement declaring that the UCC is unacceptable to Muslims and said it would challenge the Uttarakhand decision in courts.

In a statement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind said that with its implementation, there has been an assault on citizens' religious freedom as the law is also based entirely on discrimination and bias.

"On the guidance of Jamiat president Maulana Arshad Madani, the organisation will challenge the decision in both the Uttarakhand High Court and the Supreme Court," the statement said.

Jamiat President Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani termed the UCC as unconstitutional and described its implementation as an attack on democracy. 

"We cannot accept any law that is against Shariah because a Muslim can compromise with everything, but he can never compromise with his Shariah and religion," Arshad Madani said.

He hit out at the government for ignoring the objections of the stakeholders, particularly the Muslim minority, while going forward with the law.

Jamiat's lawyers have thoroughly examined the constitutional and legal aspects of this law, the statement said. The Jamiat said that it believes that since this law is based on discrimination and bias, it cannot be called a uniform civil code. 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, while announcing the implementation of UCC at a programme at his official residence in Dehradun, said that with the UCC the constitutional and civil rights of people across all religions have become uniform.

Arshad Madani also called the implementation of UCC a 'deliberate conspiracy' to restrict the religious freedom of the citizens. He added that the sectarian forces want to keep the country's minorities, especially Muslims, in constant fear and chaos by creating new, emotive and religious issues.