The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and a number of other prominent Muslim organisations on Thursday rejected the law commission's questionnaire on the Uniform Civil Code, calling it "misleading".
Calling the questionnaire "misleading and divisive", AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Wali Rahmani said that muslims will not respond to it.
"We will boycott this questionnaire. No muslim will respond to it because it is misleading and deceitful. The Uniform Civil Code is divisive and will lead to social unrest," he told media persons.
"The uniform code is not suited for this nation. There are so many cultures in India and they have to be respected. A uniform code is against the spirit of the Constitution, which safeguards the right of citizens to practice their culture and religion," he said.
Questioning the timing of the move, Rahmani said the Narendra Modi government had deliberately thrown up this issue now to "hide its failures in the last two-and-half years".
The development comes days after the Union government told the Supreme Court that 'triple talaq', 'nikaah halaal' and polygamy were not integral to the practice of Islam or essential religious practices.
Subsequently, the law commission on October 7 put up a questionnaire on its website, comprising 16 questions, to seek public opinion on the civil code issue.
Other prominent Muslims who represented their respective organisations at the press conference included Maulana Arshad Madani (Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind), Mohammad Jafar (Jamaat-e-Islami Hind), Maulana Asghar Imam Mehdi (Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith), Maulana Mahmood Madani (Jamiat Ulema Hind), M.Manzoor Alam (All India Milli Council), Naved Hamid (All India Majlis-e-Mushawarat) and Maulana Abul Qasim Naumani (Rector, Darul Uloom Deoband).
Barelvi cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan of Ittehad-e-Millat Council and Shia cleric Maulana Mohsin Taqvi were scheduled to attend the presser but could not make it, AIMPLB member Kamal Farouqi said.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani said: "The Muslim Personal Law is based on Quran and Hadith and we cannot alter it."
"Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) wants to impose dictatorship in the name of democracy," he added.
