As the deadline draws to a close to submit views on the most debated and regarded as the most controversial issue in the country – the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the Law Commission of India has received more than 46 lakh responses from the public as well as organisations and political parties. After being considered a non-starter, as the 21st Law Commission of India had stated in 2018 that a UCC “is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”, the debate was rejuvenated by the 22nd Law Commission of India on June 14 this year when the law panel sought opinion from the masses.
The issue found resonance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a party event in Bhopal on June 27, pitched for UCC by questioning, “In a home, can there be one law for one member and another law for another member?” Thus, TV debates, street discussions and scholarly articles have been painstakingly organised, written and published once again in the last fortnight.
At the epicenter of the debate are the laws governing the matters of marriage, divorce, alimony, inheritance, succession, adoption, etc, with the most contentious issue receiving the political brewing being polygamy, one man having more than one wife. While in 2006, the Supreme Court made it mandatory to register marriages, a vast majority in the country is far from being compelled to do so.
A glance at the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) informs that the prevalence of polygamy amongst Christians is 2.1%, Muslim is 1.9%, Hindu and Buddhist is 1.3% and the highest 2.5% is amongst those who stated ‘other’ as their religion. Despite being illegal and banned by all religions, except the followers of Islam who have been provided exceptions under the Muslim personal laws, polygamy is prevalent amongst all religious and caste groups.
The tribal community in India could have been considered a minority on its own with 8.6% of the population share in the country, as per the 2011 census. However, since the vast majority draws its customs and traditions from Hinduism, the Scheduled Tribes are counted among the Hindus in the census and for all the population statistics on a religious basis. Amongst the caste groups, the STs have the highest prevalence of polygamy with 2.4%.
Earlier this month, Home Minister Amit Shah assured a delegation led by the Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio that the Centre is considering the exemption of Christians and tribal areas from the proposed UCC. Thus punching a hole and defeating the premise on which the Prime Minister called for uniformity in the law.
The Uttarakhand state government’s draft of a Uniform Civil Code prepared by a committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai is expected to be presented to the government later this month. If every State will have its own UCC, then what uniformity is the Centre visioning by pitching for a UCC for the nation?
While the Law Commission set in motion the debate on UCC, without a proposal and a draft, with assurances of exemption, the idea of uniformity in civil laws seems just a political tool to drive a division and reap dividends ahead of crucial elections. And it may not come as a surprise if the allies are forced to acknowledge the call for a UCC as a masterstroke.
But given the predominance of religious identity, culture, customs and traditions, an attempt to paint every citizen with the same brush would be detrimental to the social fabric of the country. The world, including governments and academic institutions which have been existing for centuries, is now embracing diversity as its tool for furthering progress and development. Thus, overriding and bulldozing the ethos and implementing a UCC would be akin to sounding the death knell for the diversity of India, which is at the core of its identity as a nation.
