- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Speaking on the Uniform Civil Code debate, Raj asked the Muslim community not to overreact suggesting that the move by the ruling party was nothing but a political ploy.
By: Shubham Ghosh
HE has been a prominent face of the Indian National Congress, a major opposition to prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A former Indian Revenue Service officer who has also served as a member of the Indian parliament between 2014 and 2019 from Delhi, Udit Raj is also the national chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST(Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe) organisations.
Formerly a member of the BJP, Raj works for inclusive growth for all sections of the society and has been raising issues of the downtrodden and deprived people at the United Nations.
India Weekly spoke to the senior leader on some issues that have triggered controversies in India’s national politics of late and he had some interesting takes on them:
India Weekly: How do you see the Narendra Modi government pushing for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) at this time, a year before the next general election?
Udit Raj: In 2018, the Law Commission of India had concluded that UCC is neither possible nor desirable. Then what made the Narendra Modi government to reopen Pandora’s Box? The move is to precisely polarise the society.
I have two to three things to say on this move. First, the government knows that the Muslim community will react to this. Secondly, it will heat up the political climate. But in all probability, the government will take a step back. They know there are many issues involved in this matter. One is the Hindu Undivided Family or HUF which is not in personal law. HUF enjoys income tax benefits, which will create a challenge for them.
Besides, incest marriages are very common in south India. They marry their close relatives. How can they ignore the entire south Indian society?
Tribals are also agitating against the idea. Many tribal societies such as Jaintia, Khasi, Garo in the hills have matriarchal societies and they are opposing the UCC. Also those in the Santhal Parganas in Chhattisgarh are not happy. Almost all tribals will arise against it. These are the bottlenecks that will be created in the Hindu society itself.
I will ask the Muslims not to overreact since this is a political design. There are so many things in the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Indian Constitution (it may be mentioned here that the UCC is mentioned in the directive principles — Article 44 but not enforceable in courts, as per Article 37). Have they been implemented? Citation of the directive principles is not the guideline to move ahead.
IW: Do you think the recently formed INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) by several opposition parties to challenge the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance) will be effective in next year’s general elections?
Udit Raj: INDIA will defeat NDA simply because its allies are effective. With the NDA, there is no chief minister other than those belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But with India, there are many, such as the CMs of Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Bengal, Punjab, Kerala. So PM Modi expanded the NDA with allies about whom the BJP never bothered.
In five years of time, no NDA meeting was held. In the past, the saffron party snubbed its allies. Like, Chirag Paswan was ignored earlier, so was Nitish Kumar. The latter used to be a bigger partner but the BJP played politics to make him a lesser ally.
Similarly, the Shiv Sena used to be a bigger ally but the BJP systematically weakened them. Same with the Akali Dal. The BJP harmed its own allies more than the parties in the opposition. While the NDA has a long list of parties, it is only the BJP which dominates. In the north-east Indian states, the NDA has as many as nine parties, including a students’ union. But it is all about a perception game. They want to convey that the NDA has more allies than INDIA but it is only the BJP which has a base. If nothing untoward happens, INDIA is going to sweep the general elections next year for sure.
The BJP is also afraid of the acronym INDIA. Their reaction clearly suggests that it has terrorised them. They cannot say something like Digital India or Vote for India. When Rahul Gandhi suggested the name, it was accepted. The very name of ‘INDIA’ has made them panic and it was evident from Modi’s reaction. I have never seen the prime minister so disturbed like this in the last nine years.
IW: Do you think the opposition has been able to create enough pressure on Modi over the Manipur issue?
Udit Raj: As far as Manipur is concerned, the matter flared up all over the country ever since Rahul Gandhi visited the state. The European Union Parliament helped in globalising the issue and pressure was mounted on the government.
However, the Modi government and the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (the ideological mentor to the BJP) hardly bother about any such issue because they are more concerned with polarising Hindus and Muslims and selling religion, like the Ayodhya Ram Temple. They use institutions such as the CBI and ED to sabotage the unity of opposition and terrorise their leaders and force them to come to their side.
Modi has tried to divert the attention from the gruesome video incident in Manipur by comparing things with Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the two Congress-ruled states, and it is a shame. We are ashamed of having such a prime minister. He did not miss the chance of doing politics by citing Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan while comparing them with Manipur and try to dilute the seriousness of the Manipur incident.
Also, ever since he spoke on the matter outside the parliament and not inside, the ‘Godi media’ (media biased towards Modi and BJP) toed the line and the BJP and the ‘bhakts’ (Modi supporters) that such things happen elsewhere also. In the case of the 2012 Nirbhaya incident, former prime minister Manmohan Singh had never compared with other states. They have no morality and I have no hesitation to say that our people are easily influenced and have short memories, are emotional and more religious. These factors influence the mindset when incidents such as Manipur happen.
IW: If Rahul Gandhi doesn’t return as an MP in the Lok Sabha soon, who does the Congress project as its in-house face, especially before the 2024 general elections?
Udit Raj: As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, it is immaterial for him to become an MP. The priority is to dislodge the tyranny of the RSS and BJP. Secondly, Rahul Gandhi is a leader who is above PM, MP, as was Jayaprakash, Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi.
For us, it is not a crisis. Rahul Gandhi is automatically an alternative to Modi. The entire RSS and BJP are concerned about Rahul Gandhi’s personality and leadership. They used energy, money and propaganda to tarnish his image.
Rahul ji is a very learned man. He is actually an all-rounder. He is well-read, a blackbelt, fitness freak, honest, transparent who studied in Harvard and has a global vision. His predictions about the corona pandemic were laughed upon but they proved to be true. He also warned that the farm laws of the Modi government would be a death-knell for farmers which also became an issue. He was also right by cautioning that China would encroach India’s land which it did.
Rahul Gandhi’s qualities have been undermined and he has been defamed. He is a true leader for whom the common masses, including the poor, farmers and unorganised workers, are the top priority.
Once the elections are fought with the common minimum programmes and the allies, the question of who becomes the prime minister will become relevant. But there is no doubt that Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the Congress.
