Owaisi slams Modi's comments on Uniform Civil Code

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for favouring a Uniform Civil Code, alleging that he wants to target Muslims and bring in a 'Hindu Civil Code'.

He also hit out at the Prime Minister over his remarks in Madhya Pradesh on Triple Talaq and Pasmanda Muslims.

"India's Prime Minister is now talking about Uniform Civil Code. Are you going to snatch away pluralism, diversity in the name of Uniform Civil Code?" he told reporters here when asked about Modi's comments at a gathering of BJP workers in Bhopal.

"...he (PM) is not talking about Uniform Civil Code. He is talking about 'Hindu Civil Code'. (They) will treat all Islamic references of practices as illegal and the Prime Minister will protect Hindu practices under the law," he said.

Observing that the BJP has 300 MPs, he said he "challenges" if the 'Hindu Undivided Family" (HUF) would be abolished and whether he would be able to do



so.

He claimed that Modi should speak about the intention to bring in the UCC in Punjab and see what would be the reaction.

"Prime Minister, I am saying again, wants to talk about Hindu Civil Code, wants to bring it. That is his purpose. The purpose is to target India's Muslims and humiliate them," he said.

He alleged that Modi does not accept uniformity and equality and wants to give exception to Hindus and outlaw Muslim religious practices.

The Directive Principles of State Policy also mentions that India's wealth be distributed among the people of the country and that 50 per cent of the country's wealth is with eight to 10 people, he claimed, questioning the Prime Minister's silence on this fact.

The Directive Principles also talk about putting an end to liquor production, Owaisi said, adding why prohibition is not imposed yet.

The AIMIM chief quoted B R Ambedkar as having said that UCC should be voluntary.