Uniform Civil Code: Cong opposes govt reference to Law Commission

A Congress member in Lok Sabha today opposed the government's move to refer the matter of uniform civil code to the Law Commission and asked it not to "prick the conscience" of Muslims and drop the idea.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, M I Shanavas (Cong) said the Muslims have accepted the criminal laws in all matters and wondered why the government was "intruding upon" their civil laws when there were so many important issues facing the country.

"Why prick the conscience of Muslims? The government should drop the idea," he said, noting that Muslims believed in Sharia, the Islamic law, to be the law of the God.

Among other matters raised by the members was the issue of granting special category status to Andhra Pradesh, with YSR Congress Party, whose members have been protesting in the Well of the House since Monday on the matter, asking the government to respond to their demand and give a timeline for its implementation. As no reply was forthcoming, they staged a walkout.

Yogi Adityanath (BJP) raised the Bulandshahr gangrape case and said a similar incident had occurred in Greater Noida, alleging that crimes against women were growing at an alarming in pace in Uttar Pradesh due to "criminalisation of politics".

Amid strong protests by Samajwadi Party, which is in power in the state, Adityanath demanded a CBI probe into the incident.