Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will bind India and its nationalism more effectively and any further delay in its implementation will be corrosive to our values.
He also said the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) are 'fundamental in the governance of the country and it is the duty of the State to make them into rules.
"This has happened over the years. Panchayat was a directive principle, the constitution was amended and a structured mechanism for Panchayats evolved. Cooperative was another; we have seen them turning into constitutional status. Right to education was another, we have made laws. In that premise, I am somewhat stunned by the reaction of people, when there is a thought afloat, that something should be done with respect to the directive principle under Article 44 and that is the state shall endeavour to secure for citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India," he said while addressing the 25th Convocation of the IIT Guwahati.
"Any further delay in implementation of the Uniform Civil Code will be corrosive of our values. The underlying sublimity has to be appreciated and understood. This will bind Bharat, its nationalism more effectively; this was the thought process of the founding fathers of the Constitution."
Dhankhar's statement comes at a time when several organisations in the Northeast, including BJP allies, are against the implementation of the UCC.
Mizoram Church Leaders' Committee on Wednesday wrote a letter to the Law Commission of India opposing the move to implement the UCC. The committee said it would undermine the rights and privileges of the minorities in Mizoram, who are protected by provisions under Article 371 (G).
BJP's allies in the Northeast — Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party in Nagaland, National People's Party in Meghalaya and Mizo National Front in Mizoram — are also against the UCC.