Dimapur, June 26 (MExN): Amid the resurfacing of debates over the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the recent past, the Rising People’s Party demanded that the “‘people’s mandated’ NDPP-BJP coalition government “should rise to the occasion and speak up for Nagaland.”
“Silence at this juncture will have disastrous consequences because if UCC is imposed in the state by overruling Article 371A, neither the people nor the RPP will remain silent,” the RPP asserted in a statement.
“To make our collective voice loud and clear, the RPP demands that the Nagaland Legislative Assembly pass a resolution opposing the UCC in totality,” it said.
To this end, the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition should convene a special session of NLA without delay, it added.
According to the RPP, the promise to impose UCC was part of the BJP manifesto during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“The RPP opposes the move to implement UCC in the country which is part of the ‘One Nation, One Religion, One Language’ narrative of the RSS,” it pointed out, cautioning that the imposition of UCC may results in “call for insurrection in the state.”
The party further alleged that as a part of the ‘One Nation, One Language’ formula, BJP government pushed to impose Hindi as the National language but it backfired badly as most of the Southern and North-East States “rose in revolt,” except Nagaland. The NDPP-BJP coalition then “huddled in pin-drop silence,” it claimed.
It also charged the same coalition government of hurting cultural sentiments of Nagaland in 2020 “banning sale of dog meat in the state - at the behest of Hindutva elements in the central government.” The ban order was recently quashed by the Gauhati High Court Kohima Bench.
The RPP further questioned the silence of same coalition during the beef ban controversy in the country.
Accordingly, with the UCC controversy (re) brewing, it demanded the NDPP-BJP coalition government to speak up for Nagaland.
The debates over the UCC has resurfaced following the recent ‘Public Notice’ by the 22nd Law Commission of India inviting views on the matter within 30 days starting June 14.
