BJP should bring UCC Bill in Parliament, not through states: Omar Abdullah

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday urged the BJP to introduce the Uniform Civil Code Bill in Parliament if it has the numbers, instead of pushing it through states. He also welcomed LAC de-escalation and termed the BRICS condemnation of the Pahalgam attack a foreign policy success

Srinaga: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the BJP should introduce the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in Parliament if it has the numbers to pass it, instead of pushing 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.

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Abdullah said the BJP should not 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 implemented only in states ruled by the BJP, as the party does not govern all the states in the country.

“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 a universal [law]. And 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,” he said.

The chief minister said the BJP had not brought some of the key legislations it had been “going to town” about in Parliament.

“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 the de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Abdullah said it was a welcome step.

“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. Similarly, we hope, over time, that along the Line of Control also, things will get better,” he said.

On China hailing India’s foreign policy, Abdullah said New Delhi’s foreign policy had always been independent and there was no need to seek validation from other countries.

“Our foreign policy is our own. Why do we look for other countries’ certificates? 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.

“Tomorrow, if there is opposition, we will say, ‘Don’t interfere in our policy’,” he said.

The chief minister said the BRICS summit’s condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack was a success of India’s foreign policy.

“The fact that Pahalgam itself was condemned (at 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 added.