Political row over UCC:Rameshwar pitches curbs on polygamy; Masood asks if one community is being singled out

Politics has heated up in MP regarding the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). After Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav’s indications to implement it by Diwali, BJP and Congress MLAs are at loggerheads. On one hand, BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma has called it necessary for population control, while on the other hand, Congress MLA Arif Masood has termed it a conspiracy to divert attention from fundamental issues. Rameshwar Sharma: ‘One community is creating a crisis by having 5 wives and 25 children’ BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma strongly supported the Chief Minister’s move and said, “I congratulate Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav. The country is experiencing continuous population growth, and one community wants to create a new population crisis by having 5 wives and 25 children. This crisis can be dealt with by implementing UCC.” He further said that when everyone in the country wants equal education, equal employment, and equal benefits from government schemes, then the law should also be uniform for everyone. Taking a dig at Congress, Sharma said that Congress’s old slogan has been ‘two children are good’, so they should be the first to support UCC. This bill will prove to be a milestone for the progress of the state and the country. Arif Masood: “Can’t provide gas-fertiliser, brought UCC to confuse the public” Retaliating, Congress MLA Arif Masood questioned the government’s intention. Masood said, “The government is neither able to provide gas to the people of the state nor is the farmer getting fertiliser. The Chief Minister just needed an excuse to divert the public’s mind, so now everyone has been entangled in UCC for a few days. If tribals are excluded, then where is the UCC? Raising the issue of tribals and other minorities, Masood said, “If you keep tribals out of it, then where is the ‘uniform’ in this? Article 44’s objective was a Common Civil Code. If you exclude one section and include another, then clearly state that you only want to target Muslims. Separate everyone else, then we Muslims will deal with it among ourselves.” He further questioned what would happen to the separate traditions and marriage systems of Tribals, Buddhists, and Sikhs? “This is an injustice to the country, and we will strongly oppose it.” War erupted over the statement ‘have more children’ Arif Masood reacted sharply to Rameshwar Sharma’s statement on population. Masood said, “On one hand, Rameshwar Sharma is talking about population, and on the other hand, Navneet Rana, Mohan Bhagwat, and RSS people say that Hindus should have more children. Why doesn’t Rameshwar Sharma respond to this? Do they only want to stop the children of ‘Miyan brothers’ and increase those of others? What is this double standard?” Masood alleged that the government wants the public to forget about gas and fertilizer shortages and the devastation of floods, and instead remain entangled in the UCC debate, so that the government’s 4-6 months pass easily.