Assam CM wants UCC, says it will ensure honour for Muslim women

PTI, May 1, 2022, 1:23 PM IST

New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has strongly pitched for implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country, saying no Muslim woman wants her husband to have three wives.

Sarma here on Sunday also met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who recently said his BJP government would prepare the draft of a UCC to be implemented in the northern state.

The Assam chief minister said all Muslims whom he has met wanted the UCC.

”No Muslim woman wants her husband to have three wives. No one wants this. You can ask any Muslim woman. No one would tell you that her husband should marry three women. Who wants this,” he told reporters here on Saturday.

Sarma said Muslim man marrying more than one woman was not his problem but of the Muslim mothers and sisters.

He said if Muslim women and mothers have to be given honour in the society, after the Triple Talaq (law), the UCC has to be put in place.

”I am a Hindu and I have the UCC. For my sister and daughter, I have the UCC. If I have UCC for my daughter, then Muslim daughters must have that protection,” he said.

After taking the charge as Uttarakhand chief minister for the second time, Dhami said on March 24 that his government will prepare the draft of a UCC to be implemented in the state.

”The (state) cabinet has unanimously approved the proposal. We also expect other states to follow us,” he had said.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said on April 23 that the state government is thinking seriously in the direction of the implementation of the UCC.

”One law for all in one country is the need of the hour. It is required that we should get out of the system of one law for one person and another for others. We are in favour of a common civil code,” Maurya said.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said on April 25 that his government is open to implement the UCC in the state.

Thakur said his government will examine the UCC before taking a final decision on its implementation.

However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on April 26 described the attempt by some chief ministers to introduce a UCC in the country as ”an unconstitutional and anti-minorities move”.