Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday said a Uniform Civil Code couldn’t be forced upon people and it had to be optional.

Addressing the 10th edition of the ‘Chhatra Sansad’ here, he said a Uniform Civil Code had to be voluntary and that would be a great step.

While releasing the ruling BJP’s Lok Sabha polls manifesto last year, its senior leader Rajnath Singh had said the saffron party was committed towards implementing a Uniform Civil Code in the country.

Talking about caste-based violence in the country, Surjewala said one should not shy away from the reality. “When I discriminate and violate your rights because you are from the scheduled tribes or backward classes, why should you shy away from stating the naked truth in public? That is the only way to societal reforms and the realisation that caste-based violence is an ugly menace that prevails in our society,” he said.

“We cannot wish it away. We can only cure it by curation of the mindset, by reforms and by punishing those who are the perpetrators of such crimes…,” he said.