SRINAGAR, Sept 15: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday challenged the BJP to introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in Parliament if it has the numbers to pass the legislation, instead of seeking to implement it through individual states.
“If you have the numbers, bring it to Parliament. Why are you doing it through different states? Anyway, within their own NDA, not everyone agrees with this. According to the news, Janata Dal (United) raised their hands and said this won’t be implemented in Bihar,” Abdullah told reporters here.
He said the BJP should not seek to bring the UCC “through the backdoor”.
“The way their own allies are not in favour of it, I don’t think they will be able to get it passed in Parliament. That is perhaps why they are taking this route,” he added.
Abdullah said the UCC would not be “universal” if it was implemented only in BJP-ruled states, as the party does not govern all states and Union Territories.
“The whole country is not a BJP-ruled state. There are a number of states and territories that the BJP does not rule. Therefore, if you apply it only to BJP states, it is not universal,” he said.
He argued that legislation of such a nature should be decided at the national level rather than by individual states.
“Something that is of this nature should not be decided by individual states; it has to be decided by the country as a whole. The country as a whole is represented not in the states, but in Parliament,” Abdullah said.
The chief minister also alleged that the BJP had not introduced several key legislations it had publicly advocated, including “One Nation, One Election” and reservation-related measures.
“Up until now, whatever legislation they spoke about -- whether it was ‘One Nation, One Election’ or reservation -- they did not bring those to Parliament. Now, for this one as well, they are talking about bringing it through the states,” he said.
On LoC, LAC De-escalation
Asked about the de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Abdullah welcomed the development and said any reduction in tensions was beneficial, particularly for people living close to the borders.
“Anything that reduces tension on the Line of Control or the Line of Actual Control is a good step. Particularly for those people who live close to it, and we know how difficult it is for people living near the LoC or LAC,” he said.
He expressed hope that the situation along the Line of Control would also improve over time.
On China’s Remarks on India’s Foreign Policy
Reacting to China’s praise for India’s foreign policy, Abdullah said New Delhi’s foreign policy was independent and did not require validation from other countries.
“Our foreign policy is our own. Why do we look for other countries’ certificates?” he asked.
He said India should not attach excessive importance to either positive or negative comments from other countries.
“The danger with something like this is that tomorrow were China to say something against our foreign policy, then what will you do? Therefore, I think we should not give too much importance to what other countries say about our foreign policy, whether positive or negative, because we can’t cherry-pick,” Abdullah said.
Pahalgam Attack Mention at BRICS
Abdullah also described the BRICS summit’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack as a success for India’s foreign policy.
“The fact that Pahalgam itself was condemned (at the BRICS summit) is a big thing. Please see how many allies of Pakistan were in that room. Therefore, for even Pahalgam to be mentioned by name, that in itself is a success of our foreign policy,” he said.
