From the Urdu Press: ‘Uttarakhand UCC to test waters before national push’, ‘BJP moves leave INDIA splintered’

The curtain came down on the 17th Lok Sabha with the battle lines firmly drawn. In his final speeches in both Houses of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a trenchant criticism of the main Opposition Congress, framing the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as a contest between the BJP and the grand old party andtheir visions and track records. The Congress hit back, even as the party finds itselflurching from crisis to crisis. These stories made headlines in the Urdu dailies. What however dominated their coverage was thepassage of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Bill in Uttarakhand, with the dailies keeping the spotlight on the growing concerns and anxieties of the Muslim community over the contentious legislation.

Commenting on the BJP-led Uttarakhand government’s move to pass the UCC Bill, the New Delhi edition of Inquilab, in its February 9 editorial headlined ‘Mulk bhar mein UCC ki janib pehla qadam (First step towards nationwide UCC)’, says the passage of the legislation was not surprising given the BJP’s absolute majority in the Assembly. “What is notable is the haste with which the Bill was pushed through the House even though the Opposition sought more time for its consideration, calling for referring it to a Select Committee, which was rejected,” it says. “This legislation is called Uniform Code, but tribals have been exempted from it. If there are reasons for keeping tribals out of its ambit, why Muslims’ strong objections to it were not taken into account?”

The daily writes that the BJP has twin political objectives for bringing this UCC. “First, it is aimed at polarisation, for which the BJP never misses any opportunity — from talaq to hijab to CAA to renaming of towns and stations. There are many such examples,