Uniform Civil Code has been a key agenda of BJP manifestos.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) at a Bhopal rally has made it clear that in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP will go aggressive on its core, ideological issues. PM Modi centered his endorsement of the UCC around constitutional equality, in a similar vein to his government declaring Triple Talaq a criminal offence as being related to gender justice and not being essential to Islam.
While the BJP hopes to politically benefit from the strong resistance to the UCC by Muslim groups and opposition parties, it will also have to factor in a lot of aspects before it comes out with a final draft. We have to remember that the UCC is also a lot more about family matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance, other than religion. The opposition to it by Muslim groups has been largely because religion is considered a private sphere.
Background
A little bit of history first - the framers of the Constitution did envision a uniform set of laws that would replace the distinct personal laws of each religion that exist in the country. Now, these are outlined in the directive principles of state policy that are fundamental to the country's governance. After the Shah Bano case in 1985, the Supreme court in multiple instances has expressed hope that the parliament will enact the uniform civil code, to foster national integration, and remove conflict of personal laws with the CrPC or other laws. The court has also often held that personal laws derived from religious scriptures must be consistent with the constitution and cannot violate fundamental rights.
Process Now
The law commission has sought views and is expected to come up with its recommendations soon. This happened eight months after the Centre told the Supreme Court that the Constitution obligated the State to have a UCC for its citizens, saying that people of different religions and denominations following different property and matrimonial laws was not good for the nation's unity.
States Have Been Pushing It
The UCC is a project close to the RSS and is a regular feature in the BJP's manifesto in many States. Last year, the Uttarakhand government formed a committee for implementation of UCC, and the panel is currently taking suggestions from across the country on the issue. Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Dhami recently said that the panel headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai has completed 90 per cent of work related to drafting of the code and it will be submitted by June 30 after which the State will take steps to implement it.
The BJP-led governments in Assam and Madhya Pradesh government have also announced the formation of committees. The Goa Civil Code has been in force since Portuguese times and is considered a form of Uniform Civil Code, but it is quite complex on the ground. Gujarat too has said it is taking steps to bring in the UCC.
Having a central law will only strengthen the laws in the State, officials said, citing instances from other matters such as laws banning religious conversions or cow slaughter, where there are State specific legislations too, apart from nation-wide laws.
Challenges Ahead For BJP
Centre is pushing for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) that will be applicable to all Indians, irrespective of religion, gender or caste. But there are many challenges.
How will one set of laws replace many existing personal laws that govern marriage, inheritance, adoption and divorces that vary with religion and sometimes, even by region. Will these areas be taken up separately, and will some aspects of the personal laws be accommodated, or will there be a new set of laws completely? Will it get into issues of polygamy that are often raised by Hindu groups, or say marriages among cousins, or within the same Gotra that are socially volatile matters in many communities.
When it comes to inheritance too, there are different laws for Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Parsis. It gets far more complicated because matrilineal Hindus (as in Meghalaya and Kerala) have different inheritance rules, as opposed to others. While the Muslim personal law doesn't give equal rights to women when it comes to inheritance, there is also no uniformity on the inheritance of agricultural land by women, even in Hindu communities.
There have been many attempts to make the laws gender equal at least in Hindus and Christians, but the complexity of it still exists. When you look at the domestic violence act or the adoption rules, it does seem that the interest of women and children was kept in mind. But clearly the government will also have to have a large consultative process, reach out to Sikh groups, and tribal communities that have practised their customs for centuries and are devoted to them.
Why Will Some Opposition Parties Skirt Around The Issues?
The Congress has led the charge against the proposed UCC, saying that the previous Law Commission had said that it is "neither necessary nor desirable at this stage" to have a Uniform Civil Code. It has called the talk of the UCC, a diversionary tactic specifically when there are issues such as violence in Manipur. The DMK, JD(U), RJD, the Left and the Trinamool Congress have also slammed the Government, and have been far more aggressive.
The undivided Sena was a strong votary of the UCC, and the AAP had earlier supported the UCC.
Many opposition parties have been unclear about their stand, in an attempt to not lose their Hindu voters.
Meanwhile, leading Muslim bodies have come out in opposition to the proposed UCC calling it "against the spirit of the Constitution" and "contrary to religious freedom enjoyed by all citizens."