Uniform civil code not acceptable, says All India Muslim Personal Law Board

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board said on Saturday that a uniform or secular civil code will not be acceptable to Muslims as they will not compromise with Sharia law.

In a press release, the AIMPLB, stated, “The All India Muslim Personal Law Board considers the Prime Minister’s call, on the occasion of Independence Day, for a Secular Civil Code and terming religious personal laws as communal ones is highly objectionable.”

They were referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech, where he called for a uniform civil code.

“A big section (of society) believes and there is truth in this that the current civil code is in a way a communal civil code. It is a civil code which promotes discrimination. It divides the country along religious lines and promotes inequality,” PM Modi had said.

The board has made it clear that they will not break away from Sharia law. Their spokesperson, Dr SQR Ilyas, in a press statement, expressed shock at PM Modi’s announcement to call personal laws based on religion – such as Sharia, communal laws.

According to the AIMPLB, Muslims in India have the right to practice laws as per their religion, which is given in the Shariat Application Act, 1937, and the Constitution of India. In Article 25 of the Constitution, citizens have the fundamental right to profess, propagate and practice religion and abide by its laws.

In a press release, Dr Ilyas added that the family laws of other communities, apart from Muslims, are also based on their own religious and ancient traditions. The separation from religious laws is an imitation of the west, as per the AIMPLB spokesperson.

The spokesperson also said that the directive principles cited as the basis for a uniform civil code were not laws or ideas enforceable in court.

Dr Ilyas also criticised the Prime Minister’s use of secular civil code instead of the constitutional word uniform civil code, according to the press release.

He said that the prime minster was deliberately misleading people with the focus on targeting Sharia law and not thinking about the ramifications on class, caste and tribe in the country.

“Dr Ilyas implored the citizens of the nation on the occasion of August 15, to remember the sacrifices and achievements of our freedom fighters and the dream of a free, prosperous, fair and peaceful India, and not get polarised by the religious hatred and animosity created by PM in the society,” the press release said.