Cong slams PM's communal civil code remark, says his capacity for 'malice, mischief' on full display from Red Fort

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday took exception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "communal civil code" remark, saying it was a "gross insult" to B R Ambedkar and alleged that the PM's capacity for "malice, mischief, and maligning" of history was on full display from the Red Fort.

The Congress's denunciation came in the wake of Modi saying a "secular civil code" is the need of the hour as the existing set of laws was a "communal civil code" and discriminatory.

In his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi said, "A large section of the country believes, which is true also, that the civil code is actually in a way is a communal civil code. It discriminates (among people)."

Slamming the prime minister, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The non-biological PM's capacity for malice, mischief, and maligning of history knows no bounds. It was on full display today from the Red Fort."

"To say that we have had a 'communal civil code' till now is a gross insult to Dr Ambedkar, who was the greatest champion of reforms in Hindu personal laws that became a reality by the mid-1950s. These reforms had been bitterly opposed by the RSS and the Jan Sangh," he said in a post on X. He also cited the para 1.15 of 21st Law Commission's 182-page Consultation Paper on Reform of Family Law to bolster his point.

"While diversity of Indian culture can and should be celebrated, specific groups or weaker sections of society must not be dis-privileged in the process. Resolution of this conflict does not mean abolition of all differences. This Commission has therefore dealt with laws that are discriminatory rather than providing a uniform civil code which is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage," he said about the document released on August 31, 2018.

"Most countries are moving towards recognition of differences and the mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust democracy," he quoted it as saying. Modi, in his remarks, said that laws which divide the country on communal lines and become a reason for inequality have no place in a modern society.

"I would say, it is the need of the hour that India should have a secular civil code. We have lived 75 years with a communal civil code. Now, we have to move towards a secular civil code. Only then would religion-based discrimination end. It would also end the disconnect the common people feel," he said.