NEW DELHI: Union Minister Thawarchand Gehlot today strongly pushed for implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and repeal of Article 370 which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Ayodhya mein Ram Mandir tha, hai aur banega (there was a Ram Temple at Ayodhya, it is there and will be rebuilt into a big one),” he said in the Lok Sabha while participating in the discussion on the ‘Commitment to the Constitution’ to mark the 125th birth anniversary of its architect B R Ambedkar.
He made the reference to Ram temple while accusing Congress of misusing the provisions of the Constitution and cited the cases like Shah Bano to emphasise his point.
Talking about the demolition of the dispute structure in Ayodhya on December 6,1992, the minister said while the incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh, the then Congress government dissolved state assemblies also of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. He questioned why it was done.
Turning to Article 370, the Social Justice Minister said the framers of the Constitution had made this a temporary provision and questioned why the state still enjoys the special status and separate notification is issued for implementation of any central law.
“Is J&K assembly superior than Parliament…We should think about it and as soon as possible, the Article 370 should be scrapped,” he said.
Favouring a Uniform Civil Code for the country, the Minister asked, “why we should have different law for different community. Every country follows a uniform law.”
Even the Supreme Court has sought the government’s view on the matter of Uniform Civil Code.
The minister said the Congress on several occasions has undermined the Constitution in its 50 years of governance.
Citing the controversial case of Shah Bano, he said, it is the Congress who by amending Constitution in 1985 put aside judgment of Supreme Court for grant of alimony.
This was done because she belonged to a particular community, he said.
Similarly, Gehlot said, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had imposed Emergency in the country after the famous Allahabad High Court judgment which declared her election as null and void.
During the Emergency, various amendments were made which later was reversed by the Janata government headed by Morarji Desai, the BJP leader said. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel