Recently in Puducherry, Chanakyaa Network’s CEO Rangaraj Pandey hosted a debate on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). The panelists included Mohan Kumaramangalam from the Congress and SP Udayakumar, also known as ‘Kudankulam’ Udayakumar, who argued against the idea that the UCC had a political agenda behind it. On the other side, Professor Rama Sreenivasan and public speaker Manikandan supported the topic, asserting that the Uniform Civil Code was crucial and necessary for the country.
SP Udayakumar spearheaded the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant protests during UPA regime in 2012. He was referred to as a protestor who was funded by foreign agencies to carry out protests against the nuclear power plant by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
SP Udayakumar in his speech which lasted about 30 minutes claimed many falsities.
- that the UCC will ensure minorities like Muslims and Christians live life as second-class citizens, that they will be enslaved
- that Varanasi will be the capital of India
When the mediator, Rangaraj Pandey asked him who said so or where he had read about minorities having to live life as second-class, he claimed it was published in an English newspaper and would share the link with Pandey. The link that was shared with him turned out to be an article in the Economic Times about a draft proposed by several Hindu seers and scholars with respect to a “Hindu Rashtra”.
Udayakumar read the Hindu Rashtra draft and confused it for the UCC draft. No one (no layman) has seen or has access to the draft of the UCC as of today.
None of the representatives from the government have ever mentioned anything about shifting the capital city from New Delhi to Varanasi.
On Marriage
He claimed that the UCC will dictate who can marry whom and that UCC will also decide who receives the inheritance in a family.
On Hinduism
He continued saying that Hindus were not a united set of people, they were divided by castes and separated by Varnas. To this mediator, Rangaraj Pandey asked if he can call the people of Puducherry as Tamilians. Stumped, Udayakumar said Puducherry also had French citizens so he could not address everyone as Tamilians. Pandey responded saying that there are Anglo Indians living in Tamil Nadu so how could he call everyone living in Tamil Nadu as Tamilians but refuse to call people of Puducherry as Tamilians just because it was separated from Tamil Nadu. Dumbfounded, Udayakumar could not give a response to that. Pandey went on to clarify why he gave that example – he said that just because Puducherry is not in Tamil Nadu, we cannot not call them Tamilians. Extrapolating this to Hinduism, he said that even if there are dozens of sects in Hinduism, it is not separatism.
On Veer Savarkar
Udayakumar in his speech quoted Veer Savarkar as having stated “Ek Dev Ek Desh Ek Bhasha Ek Jaati Ek Jeeva Ek Aasha”. When mediator Rangaraj Pandey pointed out that he has mentioned Savarkar as having said Ek Jaati, Udayakumar refutes it saying he meant one race. He continued to say that he had a problem with this “ek” – same for all and that it will not work in a country like India.
On Various “Hindu” Ideology Parties Trying To Get UCC Implemented
Udayakumar stated that since independence, the Hindu leaders have been trying to indicate their true intentions of getting a Uniform Civil Code implemented in the country. He lists that in 1947, the Ram Rajya Parishad founded by Swami Karpatri, in its manifesto talks of establishing Ram Rajya in India, providing army training for the youth, repealing the anti-shastric Hindu code bill. Udayakumar claimed that the Parishad wanted to retain casteist society and rules. The Hindu code bill was about polygamy, divorce, inheritance, guardianship and made mixed marriages possible. Since the Ram Rajya Parishad was against the Hindu Code Bill, he said that they were casteist.
The Jan Sangh had also mentioned the UCC in their manifesto in 1967, he said.
He then said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was formed in 1980 and that the Jan Sangh merged with it as well. He says it has been on the party’s manifesto since then. He also pointed out that along with the implementation of the UCC, abrogation of Article 370,renaming Minorities Commission as Human Rights Commission and building Ram Mandir in Ayodhya has been the longterm aim of the BJP.
He also claimed that in 2020, a private member bill for the implementation of UCC was put forth by BJP member Kirodi Lal Meena in the Rajya Sabha, and that this was a very calculated move by the party. He claims that the introduction of UCC in Uttarakhand by Chief Minister Dhami and in Himachal Pradesh are also calculated moves of the government.
UCC – A Mode To Threaten Minorities
He claimed that the implementation of the UCC will enslave the minorities and threaten their existence.
Udayakumar claimed that the leaders following the Hindu ideology spread misinformation and fear mongering among unsuspecting citizens that since Muslim men can indulge in polygamy, they can beget many more children than Hindus can and thus increase their population. The result would be, he said, a change in demography wherein the Muslims would become the majority population and Hindus will become a minority and that the Muslims will divide the country further following Jinnah’s two nation theory.
He also said that minorities, especially Muslims have lost their peace of mind, they are scared, they are worried that if this Kaatu Aatchi (regressive rule) continued, what could happen in the country going forward.
UCC As A Tool To Cover Up Failures
He claimed that since the RSS was going to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025 and that since the elections were just around the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) having nothing to showcase as achievements wanted to bring in the UCC to prove a point.
He claimed that inflation was at its highest and that unemployment was rampant across the country. Contrarily, it is a well-known fact that inflation in India can be attributed to various external factors such as Corona pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and over the past decade, the inflation is averaging at about 6% over the past decade. In June 2023, it was at around 4%.
Unemployment rate in India decreased to 7.70% in May from 8.10% in April 2023.
Udayakumar also claimed that the rupee was diminishing in value and that small businesses are suffering while only a few select businessmen are enjoying success. He also said that people are suffering every single day.
Bharat Mata Ki Jai
There were sporadic chants of the phrase Bharat Mata ki Jai which irked Udayakumar and he said that in the past 9 years, this is the biggest achievement of the BJP government – to make people chant Bharat Mata ki Jai.
In total, he said that unity is different from uniformity and that a diverse country like India must not be made “uniform”. Udayakumar based his whole argument at the event on a misunderstanding and misreading of a news article.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.