SRINAGAR: The Army in Jammu and Kashmir faced criticism and subsequently cancelled a seminar aimed at raising awareness about the Uniform Civil Code and other legal topics, Daily Excelsior reported.
The seminar, titled “Navigating legal frontiers: Understanding Indian Penal Code 2023 and the quest for Uniform Civil Code,” scheduled for March 26 at Kashmir University Auditorium, drew backlash from regional political parties, particularly from Omar Abdullah, Vice President of the National Conference (NC).
Abdullah questioned the Army’s involvement in a divisive issue like the Uniform Civil Code in a sensitive region like Kashmir, stating it could compromise the Army’s apolitical and areligious stance. He expressed concerns that proceeding with the seminar could implicate the Army in political and religious matters.
“Is it appropriate for the Indian Army to get involved in the divisive issue of the uniform civil code & that too in a sensitive area like Kashmir? There is a reason the Indian Army has remained apolitical and areligious. This ill-advised UCC seminar is a threat to both these basic tenets,” Abdullah said in a post on X.
He said going ahead with the seminar risks opening up the Army to charges of getting involved in the “murky world” of politics coupled with “interfering” in religious matters.
Tanvir Sadiq, NC’s chief spokesperson, urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to evaluate the appropriateness of the Army discussing a topic from the BJP’s manifesto during the Model Code of Conduct period.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also criticized the Army’s involvement, citing past instances of perceived partisan roles.
“What we are seeing is the continuation of the trend of ‘Naya Kashmir’ and Akhir Kab Tak campaigns in which the Army as an institution was seen as playing a partisan role and directly interfering in the political affairs of J-K,” PDP spokesperson Najmus Saqib said.
“Post backlash, we had seen some systemic changes, but unfortunately the seminar by the India Army as an institution depicts how far the lines between politics and security apparatus have blurred in J-K,” he added.
Saqib said this is a “very dangerous trend” and is a “manifestation of larger systemic erosion of the Constitution”.
After the backlash, the Army cancelled the event “due to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct”. “The Legal Awareness Seminar on March 26 by Kashmir Jurist in Kashmir University has been cancelled due to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct,” Srinagar-based Defence Spokesman Lt Col Manoj Sahu said.
