The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) yesterday informed the 22nd Law Commission that the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) was not in the nation’s interest and enforcing it without a genuine countrywide inter-faith consensus, especially among minorities, would violate the spirit of the Constitution and generate fear, distrust and divisive sentiments. In a letter to the Secretary of the Commission, party president Sukhbir Singh Badal noted “uniformity should not be confused with unity. India symbolises unity in diversity and not in uniformity. Only a truly federal structure can resolve our problems and make India a global superpower.” The SAD president also urged the government to respect the sentiments of the patriotic Sikh community on UCC before taking a decision.
“This is important as peace and communal harmony in the sensitive border State of Punjab must always remain a top national priority”. The SAD president also said that the party had held consultations with different stakeholders in the state and outside. “On the basis of that, the widespread impression we gathered is that the UCC, if implemented, will definitely affect the freedom of minority communities of different caste, creed and religions”. The letter also noted that the SAD believed in safeguarding democracy and federalism with emphasis on greater autonomy for the states.
“A concrete draft,” the letter read, “outlining all the details of the proposed legislation should be prepared and circulated among the people throughout the country so that they could provide the desired response.” Badal also noted that the issue had already been examined in depth by the 21st Law Commission which had in its report in 2018 noted that UCC was neither necessary nor desirable at this stage and observed that reforms in different family laws would better guarantee the rights of women and children than Uniform Civil Laws.
He said Sikh identity was defined when the Tenth Guru, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji founded the Khalsa Panth and bestowed on it a unique identity as a separate faith. “This identity was later inalienably linked with Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal living Guru of the Sikhs and coupled with its unique customs and culture of Sikhism is more important to us than life itself. The younger Sahibzadas of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji preferred martyrdom to life in order to demonstrate that for the Sikhs, the Khalsa identity supersedes even life”.
