Don't See Govt Consulting Public, Holding Debate On UCC: Shashi Tharoor

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor asserted that a proper debate on the draft is needed to arrive at a conclusion.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Amid debates nationwide regarding the proposed equal civil laws, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said that the Centre has not yet presented a draft of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and asserted that a proper debate on the draft is needed to arrive at a conclusion.

"Do we know what rules are going to be changed? Which community will have to sacrifice what?" Tharoor questioned while speaking to ANI.

"We are objecting to the fact the government wants to ride roughshod over the sensitivities of the public. We want the public to be taken into confidence, communities to be consulted, stakeholders to have a voice and then we want a proper debate on a draft, only then we can arrive at a conclusion," he added.

#WATCH | Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Uniform Civil Code

"...We've not seen a UCC draft. We all are talking about UCC but do we even know what UCC is. Do we know what rules are going to be changed? Which community will have to sacrifice what? We have no idea. We are talking in… pic.twitter.com/mjJP8ZgNIL

— ANI (@ANI) August 31, 2023

"Uttarakhand has been talking about UCC for 2-3 years, have you seen the draft?" he asked. His remarks came after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday said that UCC in Uttarakhand will be implemented within this year.

"There should be a uniform law for every citizen in the country. It has been the demand of the people. Uttarakhand is all set to make the beginning. Under the Constitutional provisions, we will implement the UCC in the state within this year," Dhami had said at a programme.

The UCC was promised to the people of the state in the run-up to the assembly polls last year, he had said.

"We were re-elected with a massive mandate breaking the convention of incumbent governments losing the polls. In our first decisions after forming the government, we set up a committee to draft the UCC," Dhami said.

The panel has taken the opinions of 2.33 lakh people and different organisations, institutions and tribal groups before preparing the draft of the UCC, he said.