People of Kerala, especially those who are in their 50s still remember that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM and their ideologue late EMS Namboodiripad were in favour of implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the 1980s. Now, the Kerala Legislative Assembly records are in public domain. Mainstream newspapers do carry them. An important information is the CPM proposal to appoint a secular officer, in the Department of Culture, for propagating awareness among the public regarding the significance of UCC.
CPM Called for Implementation of UCC in 1985
The contents highlight that CPM which now shouted on top of its voice against UCC was in favour of its (UCC) lock, stock and barrel. CPM members had raised a question, on the floor of the Assembly, on July 9, 1985, seeking the Government’s policy in implementing UCC. M V Raghavan, K P Aravindakshan, V J Thankappan, K R Gowri Amma, C T Krishnan, E Padmanabhan, O Bharathan,P V Kunhikannan and A K Padmanabhan were the MLAs who raised the question. Since Chief Minister K Karunakaran, the undisputed Congress leader, was not in the House, Irrigation Minister M P Gangadharan replied.
The first question was if the Central Government had sought Social Welfare Boards’ opinion with respect to creating pro-UCC mood among minorities. The minister’s reply, that nothing new was under consideration, did not satisfy M V Raghavan. Raghavan said that the Central Government had stated on the floor of the Parliament that State Governments’ opinions would be sought. He asked how come Kerala alone did not get it. He spoke in detail about the difficulties the society faces in the absence of UCC.
CPM sought support from Indian Muslim League
CPM members asked the Indian Union Muslim League, what its stand was on UCC. The then Leader of Opposition (LoP) E K Nayanar had explained the significance of the UCC too.
E K Nayanar was the tallest CPM leader in the State, next to EMS Namboodiripad , those days. He was the second CPM leader to take over as the CM after EMS.
These records expose the hypocrisy of CPM. Now, for the sake of bagging the minority vote bank, it is exercising ridiculous somersault.
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