Amid Furore Over Uniform Civil Code, President Murmu Backs Common Law For All Communities

Murmu said that the common civil code in the state was in line with the Constitution and a good example for the country.

President Droupadi Murmu on a three-day visit to Goa ( Image Source :PTI )

President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday hailed Goa’s common civil code saying that it was a matter of pride for the state and a good example for the country. She also said that women are looked at with equality in Goa’s cosmopolitan culture. The President, who arrived in the coastal state on Tuesday for a three-day visit, was responding to a civic reception hosted for her at Raj Bhavan. Murmu said that the common civil code in the state was in line with the Constitution and a good example for the country, reported PTI. 

Goa has the colonial-era Portuguese civil code which is applicable to people of all religions in the state. 

“The number of women students in higher education in Goa is more than 60 per cent, but there is a need to increase the participation of women in the workforce in the state,” she said.

"It is a matter of pride for Goa that the people here have adopted a common civil code," she added.

“The common civil code which provides equal rights to women and men of all communities living in Goa is an example of the cosmopolitan culture here,” President Murmu added.

Murmu’s remark came at a time when the proposed Uniform Civil Code came under the spotlight after the Law Commission sought views of various stakeholders on the issue. 

It also stirred a political discourse after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the Uniform Civil Code during his address in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal in June this year. 

Earlier on Tuesday, President Murmu arrived at Dabolim Airport in Goa where she was received by Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other dignitaries.

On August 23, the President will attend the Goa University’s convocation ceremony at Durbar Hall in Raj Bhavan. She would interact with the members of “vulnerable” tribal groups – those living in forests – in the coastal state, according to an official release.

The President will also address the state assembly on Wednesday.