Hyderabad: Former Union minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday asserted that imposition of Uniform Civil Code was not feasible in India in view of its diverse cultures.
“Uniform Civil Code will be a reform, but imposing it is not feasible in India. Attempts to impose uniformity in this plural country will simply not succeed,” he said. Mr Chidambaram was speaking at a function organised by Manthan, a Forum for Public Discourse here after releasing his book “Standing Guard, A Year in Opposition”.
“I began writing because I was practically unemployed. I am holding a mirror to the government so that it sees its face,” the former Union minister said.
Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the Sufi Conference in New Delhi, he said that the PM had however failed to tame his party leaders.
“Attempts to impose dress code, what to eat, whom to love and marry will not succeed. You have to make a choice. Do you want civil code or double digit growth? I want India’s growth rate at 10 per cent... I want poverty to be abolished. It’s a matter of choice,” Mr Chidambaram said. He took pot shots at the PM’s Swachh Bharat campaign, saying every change is not reform.
“Sweeping streets of Hyderabad is necessary but it’s not a reform. You do it again tomorrow and the day after. Reform is something that fundamentally changes the character of a people and brings transformation. Hindu Law Bills were reforms, prohibition of bigamy etc too. We brought about transformational reforms and got rid of controls,” he said.
Describing former PM P.V. Narasimha Rao as one of the most intelligent PMs, he said he did some some things right and some wrong.
“Inaction during Babri demolition was a grave error. But his economic reforms were truly exceptional. He signed files pertaining to trade reforms in just three minutes. History has already credited him as true pioneer of reforms,” Mr Chidambaram said.
