After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), a fresh discussion has started across the country. Meanwhile, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) held a meeting on Tuesday, June 27. The AIMPLB wrote a letter to the Law Commission seeking six months’ time to give its suggestions. On June 14, the Law Commission sought the views of all stakeholders and religious organisations on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The letter tweeted by AIMPLB on 28th June 2023 is actually dated 23rd June 2023.
It is pertinent to note that AIMPLB and its members have often discarded the idea of UCC and said that nobody, not even the State, can alter Sharia law.
In this letter addressed to the secretary of the law commission and signed by All India Muslim Personal Law Board General Secretary Mohammad Fazlur Rahim Mujadidi the AIMPLB said, “We have got to know about the above-referred notice issued by the Commission. We are sure that, we being the largest confederation of Muslim religious organizations in India shall submit a proper response to the said notice as we have also done in the past.”
Important letter from the Secretary General of @AIMPLB to the Secretary of the Law Commission of India.@MLJ_GoI#UCC pic.twitter.com/x61j5HwvZC
— All India Muslim Personal Law Board (@AIMPLB_Official) June 28, 2023
The letter further said, “However, considering the vast nature of the issue involved, the time duration given for the filing of response is too short. Secondly, the content set out in the above-referred notice is vague, too general and unclear. Thirdly, the terms for the suggestions to be invited are missing. Fourthly, we are not clear how this issue has become so important at this stage keeping in view that this commission’s predecessor had examined the very same issue and reached a conclusion that UCC is neither necessary nor desirable.”
The AIMPLB further said, “We are in the process of drafting and finalizing our response to your notice (though the ambit of the notice is open-ended and vague), but considering the mammoth task we will request you to extend this time by at least by 6 months so that appropriate response can be prepared by religious organizations individuals and public-spirited persons.”
On Tuesday, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board decided to continue its opposition to the Uniform Civil Code, saying it will present its arguments more strongly before the Law Commission in this regard.
Senior board member Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali told news agency PTI that various office bearers and members of the board, including chairman Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, attended the board meeting. He said the meeting, which lasted till late in the night, deliberated on the draft of objections to be raised by the board’s lawyers before the Law Commission on the UCC issue.
Maulana Farangi Mahali said that in the meeting it was decided to continue the opposition to UCC and it was decided that the board will put its arguments more strongly before the Law Commission in this matter.
