Uniform Civil Code: Catholic Church of Meghalaya Writes to Law Commission

SHILLONG: The Catholic Church of Meghalaya has written to the Member Secretary of the Law Commission of India against the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in the hill state and said that this law is against the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

In the letter, the Church mentioned that they are very fortunate to be citizens of India and that the constitution of India protects all the citizens of the country and that the same respects the concept of unity in diversity and the secular nature of the country. And the country allows for personnel laws in terms of marriage, divorce, inheritance of properties etc for different communities of the country. But a public notice was issued a month back by the Law Commission of India regarding the enforcement of a uniform civil code for all communities.

They mentioned that the people of the state consider their customs, traditions and beliefs with the utmost respect and mentioned that they could now able allowed to be distorted or damaged by the implementation of a uniform civil code. They also mentioned the imposition of the customs of one religion goes against Article 25 of the constitution which allows all religious groups of the country to manage their own affairs.

The letter also pointed out that Articles 341 and 342 as well as the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India, grant special rights to the tribal communities of the country. While mentioning that the UCC will destroy the special rights and privileges given towards the members of tribal communities.

It also mentioned that the 21st Law Commission had expressed its opinion in 2018 that the enforcement of a Uniform Civil Code is neither necessary nor desirable at that time, so the urgency of the central government towards the implementation of UCC is very undesirable.

Also Read: Keep Arunachal out of UCC’s purview: Tribal body in Arunachal

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