Two developments took place on Wednesday on the issue of Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Law Commission Chairman Justice Rituraj Awasthi said the commission has so far received 8.5 lakh responses on the UCC after seeking views from the public, religious organizations and other stakeholders within a time limit of 30 days. He said, the commission will hold wide consultations with all the stakeholders. The second development points to a division among the opposition parties on the question of opposing the Uniform Civil Code. Aam Aadmi Party general secretary Sandeep Pathak said his party supports the Uniform Civil Code in principle, but later senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the Center should first reveal the details of the bill and hold discussions with all parties. Must be done, and only then will it be done. His party decides. Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party and JDU are surprised by your stand. Congress leader Kamal Nath, who is leading his party in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, said his party “will not fall into the trap of the BJP”. Let the BJP raise the issue of Uniform Civil Code, we will raise the issue of price rise and unemployment among the people. NCP working president Praful Patel said his party does not oppose the UCC, but the Center should first give the details. Seeing the political counter-attack, it seems that Modi’s arrow has hit the target. This is an issue on which division has appeared among the opposition parties. The first signal came from Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party. Second, almost all major opposition parties, barring Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP, are in a position where they can neither oppose the Uniform Civil Code nor openly support it. Can If these parties oppose the UCC, they risk losing Hindu voters, and if they support the UCC, they may face the wrath of Muslim voters. To be on the safe side, all these parties have now started saying, first let the Center bring the draft bill and call an all-party meeting, only then they will express their views. But I think this middle way will not work. The forceful manner in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed for the Uniform Civil Code on Tuesday is an indication that the government has already made up its mind on the UCC. The monsoon session of Parliament is likely to begin on July 17 and if the government introduces a draft bill on UCC, the Congress and other opposition parties will be in trouble. Something similar happened in Parliament on August 5, 2019, when the Center suddenly brought a bill to abrogate Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. All the opposition parties had to unite and support the bill. This time too Modi can force the opposition parties to come together once again. Since several top Muslim Ulema including All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind have opposed the UCC, the opposition is now caught in a dilemma.
Why does Bihar need teachers from outside?
The Government of Bihar has amended the teacher recruitment rules, allowing candidates from all over India to apply for the posts of school teachers. Education Minister Chandrashekhar said, this amendment has been done to fill the vacancies of Science, English and Mathematics teachers. “Talented job aspirants from all over India can appear for the recruitment as there is a dearth of competent candidates for subjects like Science and English. This will improve the quality of education in government schools”, he said. In the Bihar cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday, it was decided to amend the Bihar State School Teachers (Appointment, Transfer, Disciplinary Action and Service Conditions) Rules, 2023 and to give exemption of Bihar domicile for the candidates. The notification for the recruitment of 1,70,000 school teachers was released earlier this month. BJP and many student organizations have opposed this move. Former Deputy CM and BJP leader Sushil Modi said, the anger of the people is justified. “If candidates from other states sit for the exam, what will be the fate of candidates from Bihar? In fact, Nitish Kumar’s government has no intention of appointing teachers and wants the matter to go to court and stop the whole process. Can’t refuse to give, okay, but the question is, did Nitish Kumar not know about this beforehand? Why a separate advertisement was taken out inviting applications from candidates outside Bihar? Why were the rules changed? The state government could have assured the candidates of Bihar about this decision. Instead of doing this, the education minister of the state has questioned the talent of the candidates of Bihar, which is not fair. This has already angered job aspirants in Bihar and some student organizations have given an ultimatum of 72 hours. I think Sushil Modi is right in saying that the matter may go to court and the appointment process will take a long time. Ultimately the youth of Bihar will be defeated.
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