Various Adivasi and Dalit outfits will jointly stage a rally declaring a charter of rights followed by a meeting in protest against the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the city on August 9 coinciding with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People.
This will be followed by a one-day workshop on tribal autonomy, forest rights, Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, and Dalit charter of rights on August 10. The announcement was made by P.G. Janardanan and M. Geethanandan, secretary and State coordinator of Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha, C.J. Thankachan of Adijana Maha Sabha and C.S. Murali of Dalit-Adivasi Citizen Rights Combine here on Saturday.
They dubbed the move to introduce the UCC by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which openly strived to create a Hindu nation, as alarming. Whether the BJP’s move was in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution remained suspect, they feared.
In the context of the worsening assault on Dalit and Adivasi communities, Citizenship Amendment Act, reservation for forward classes, anti-minority policies, and racial riots in Manipur, the move betrayed attempts by the BJP government to establish a caste Hindu nation, they alleged.
Tribal communities across the country had risen in revolt against the UCC. The demand for exempting tribal communities from the UCC had even been raised within the BJP. The rise of caste Hindu dominance and the clamour for a patriarchy-based Hindu nation pointed at serious lapses on the part of national leaderships of political parties. Consultations should be held afresh on the Hindu Code Bill put forward by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar before realising the goal of the UCC as enshrined in the Constitution.
Reform is needed within the majority Hindu religion. The ongoing controversy over the UCC is aimed at obscuring this fact and creating unrest among the minority communities. Instead of the UCC, focus should be on reformation of individual communities. The conflict between personal laws and religious interests as often reflected in litigations also pointed to it. The UCC could be achieved only through the internal reformation of individual communities, they said.