Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today said the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly cannot pass a resolution against the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), without knowing its contents.
Replying to a resolution moved by Mawhati MLA, Charles Marngar who called on the house to adopt a unanimous decision to oppose the UCC, Sangma said, “Without having the actual bill in front of us, and without going through the content of what the bill intends to do, it is not appropriate because we don’t know and nothing has been moved.”
Sangma said, he has not seen the bill and has no idea what it has. “As a concept and proposal, the UCC is not acceptable to us, because we are a diverse nation and in it lays our strength. Hence, it is not acceptable,” he said.
He said as the Chief Minister and president of the National People’s Party he is opposed to it. “When it come to looking at the UCC and possibility of it coming as a bill and passed, we as the state government and political parties are all against the concept of UCC,” the Chief Minister said.
He further said outside the house, legislators can speak on the ideas without documentation based on what they presume may happen and give opinions.
“If there is any proposal in the proposed bill to dilute the practices of the tribals in terms of religion, marriages and inheritance, the state government and the Assembly will never agree to it,” he said, adding, “The UCC right now has no documentation, no draft and ambiguous.”
The Chief Minister also informed that the state government will soon submit its views and suggestions on the UCC to the Law Commission.
Earlier Marngar said if UCC is made an act, it will have major impact on minorities and the state. He said it will affect the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India and snatch away the law making powers of the district councils in matters related to land, inheritance, marriage and social customs.
Satisfied with the reply of the Chief Minister, Marngar later withdrew the resolution.
