Is The Political Climate Of The Country Conducive To Enact A Uniform Civil Code?
By
Aftab Alam, New Age Islam
12 July
2023
The controversial and complex issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is back in the news once again. The 22ndLaw Commission has decided to revisit the issue and has solicited the views of the public despite its predecessor’s conclusion in 2018 that it is “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also made a strong pitch for the UCC at an election rally in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Some BJP-ruled states like Uttarakhand, Assam, Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc. have taken the decision to implement it.
The UCC
proposes to have a common set of laws for personal matters such as marriage,
divorce, alimony, inheritance, and adoption for all citizens irrespective of
their religious affiliations in place of separate religion based personal laws
that govern such matters today. But religious minorities, tribals, and
feminists are sceptical about it. They consider the UCC a backdoor attempt to
impose the cultural and religious practices of the majority community on them.
They see it as a direct assault on their identity and culture, in blatant
violation of the cultural and religious rights granted to them by the
Constitution. The BJP blames opposition parties for misleading and instigating
minorities because of appeasement and vote bank politics.
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Also
Read: Demystifying The Uniform Civil Code
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It is a
pity that the debate on an issue of socio-political reform as big as UCC has
always been mired in ignorance, political manoeuvrings, and religious
polarisation, which leave behind the core issue of gender justice. The entire
debate on UCC primarily veers around its desirability and discontent, and not
on the merit. Most of the arguments, either in favour or against, are based on
either assumptions or apprehensions, as no one has any exact idea as to how
does a UCC look like or what provisions it will cover.
The
political discourse on UCC is often interwoven with hateful Islamophobic
slogans and narratives like ‘Hum Do Hamare Do, Who Panch, Unke Pachees’ (we
are two, we have two children, whereas they are five – husband and four wives –
and they have 25 children), creating a sense of fear among Hindus that if a UCC
is not implemented, Muslims will multiply and become a majority, which will
change the demographic profile of India. Such observations foster many
prejudices based on wrong presumptions and infuse a negative image of Muslims
in the minds of the majority community.
As a part
of sinister design, often attempt is made, to stigmatise, demonise, and
denigrate minority communities, especially Muslims, as regressive and anti-women
who are always opposed to any reform in their personal laws, and thus they are
big obstacle to national integration. On the other hand, Hindus are projected
as more tolerant and adaptive to secular laws concerning women. The call for a
UCC is never premised on securing gender justice or women’s rights but largely
draws on the deficiencies in Muslim Personal Law (MPL) but largely remain
silent on deficiencies in the personal laws of other communities. Because of
such narratives and slanderous attacks on their religious beliefs, instead of
getting ready for UCC, Muslims’ attitude gets even more harder. It also turns
the demand for a UCC as an anti-Muslim agenda.
Amid the
raging religious polarisation and majoritarian turn, a call for UCC is bound to
be viewed with cynicism. There is an extremely worrying upsurge in hate speech
and violence, with impunity, targeting minorities, especially Muslims. It is
upsetting that minorities are being systematically otherised, marginalized, and
stigmatized in the contemporary India. Attempts are also being made to erase
their presence and contributions. Cities, railway stations, and roads with
Islamic/Muslim sounding names are being renamed. In the name of revision of the
history textbooks, the details of the country’s Muslim history are either being
purged or are already completely gone. Today, there is not even a single Muslim
representation in the ruling party or in the Union Council of Ministers, for
the first time in history. There are reported open calls for genocide and
economic boycott of Muslims without any qualms.
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Also Read: Why Critics Of Uniform Civil Code Should Come Up With
Better Arguments
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In this
communally vitiated political climate, when there is not only tremendous
distrust between communities but also a deep trust deficit between minorities
and the government, enacting a UCC on the basis of brute majority, will not be
a prudent decision for the moment. A harmonious political climate is a must for
a dispassionate debate on this extremely contentious issue. It is important to
first create a right political climate by dispelling fears and misgivings among
minorities about UCC before proceeding further. A UCC, howsoever desirable,
enactment in the present polarised scenario would be inexpedient and may prove
to be even counter-productive. One must recall the observations of the Supreme
Court in Lily Thomas etc. v. Union of India, where it was rightly emphasised
that though the desirability of UCC can hardly be doubted, but it can only be
achieved when a proper social climate is built up.
It needs to
be highlighted that personal law reforms, or UCC, have nothing to do with the
issue of national integration or national unity, as often highlighted, and are
purely a matter of gender justice and women’s rights. This is based on the
flawed and questionable logic that uniformity leads to national integration.
Having distinct identities is not against national integration, and they do not
necessarily lead to separatism. National integration comes with the feeling of
‘togetherness’, and not with the feeling of ‘sameness’.
Furthermore,
the majoritarian agenda is being subtly advanced by selectively applying the
concept of equality to attack ideas like secularism and minority rights. In
this discourse, only one aspect of equality – ‘formal equality’ is highlighted,
which emphasises the sameness of treatment. But the notion of ‘substantive
equality’ is deliberately overlooked, which recognises differential treatment
for minorities and other weaker and marginalised sections of the society. By
employing this concept of equality, the ordinary people can easily be misled
that any concession to minorities to protect their religious or cultural
identity, which the constitution itself enjoins, is against the principle of
equality and the true concept of secularism.
If we are
genuinely interested in addressing the gender discrimination in personal laws
of the different communities, we need to tread with extreme caution. Instead of
insisting on UCC as a magic wand or panacea for all the ills Indian women
suffer, we should first focus on reforming discriminatory personal laws and
guaranteeing equality within communities between men and women, rather than
equality between communities. It must be admitted that what the women need is
not uniformity and sameness of treatment, as often argued, but empowerment, and
justice, and complete relief from exploitation, which a UCC is intended to
guarantee. The goal of implementing UCC would become easier once personal laws
become gender-just and compliant with the basic human rights. Attaining gender
justice should be the main goal, whether it comes through personal law reforms
or the UCC.
No chance
should be given to communal and obscurantist forces on both sides to exploit
the situation and vitiate the atmosphere further. We must wait for a draft of
the UCC to come before forming any opinion on it. Rejecting or approving the
UCC altogether without knowing it, would not be a prudent decision. The Muslim
Personal Law Board is committing the same mistake by opposing the UCC as it did
during the discourse on the abhorrent Muslim practice of instantaneous triple Talaq
without realising its far-reaching consequences. Muslims must know that all
that is there in MPL is not a divine law and has more human element. There are
many discriminatory practices that cannot be condoned in the name of religious
freedom or minority rights, and any attempt to do so would badly damage these
very ideals themselves.
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Aftab Alam is professor and head department of
Strategic and Security Studies AMU.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/political-climate-country-uniform-civil-code/d/130199
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