KCBC: Rituals getting trampled on, a concern

Kochi: Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) through an official statement on Saturday said that if at all there is any move to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), it should be done carefully, considering the religious and cultural apprehensions of the Christian and Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities who constitute 8.6% of the country’s population.“In the guise of personal law, the government should not interfere in entirely religious and cultural subjects in the name of some kind of discrimination or gender-related injustice. If such interventions happen, it should only be for removing injustice or discrimination that has crept into personal laws and to resolve gender or other inequalities,” said KCBC.It added that since it was a subject which needed time to study, the limited time to submit opinions is creating doubts. The possibility of religious freedom getting hampered and traditional rituals getting trampled if this law is implemented, is a cause for concern, KCBC said. tnn