PM Modi hails state’s Uniform Civil Code, critics warn of privacy and divisive issues
Introduction of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a mandate of the Indian Constitution as stated in Article 44: “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.” However, it has been a contentious issue due to its potential to undermine the diverse lifestyles people have adopted in different parts of the country. Governments since independence have kept the proposal for a UCC on the back burner due to this factor but the BJP, after discovering its divisive power, has placed it at the top of its agenda.
Hence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise for the BJP government in Uttarakhand for the introduction of the UCC in the state and the steps it has taken to “check demographic change and illegal religious conversion” has no surprise element. The Uttarakhand law, which came into force in January this year, provides for uniform personal laws for marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession while giving an exception to the state’s Scheduled Tribes. The law received flak as it interfered with the private lives of people, as exemplified by its restrictive definition on live-in relationships. Some provisions have been relaxed since its introduction, and the government has promised further changes. It has told the high court recently that it will make the law “more practical, transparent and citizen-friendly” and will “clarify procedures around live-in relationships, registration and appeals while strengthening privacy protections”.
According to the Prime Minister, the Uttarakhand government has set an example for other states to emulate. It is quite normal for the Prime Minister of the country to pick the right practice from various states and tell the country to take the right cues from them; prime ministers have done so in the past. Some of the path-breaking initiatives across the country had their genesis in pilot projects implemented in some obscure district but brought to the national attention by the Union government. The women’s self-help group was such an idea that then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee picked up from Kerala and promoted across the country. Most such ideas contributed to the emancipation of the most marginalised people and helped national integration.
But the UCC, unfortunately, does not follow this pattern. It has been on the agenda of the BJP for quite some time as the saffron party has found it can help further its partisan agenda. No one knows about the contours of a UCC; no BJP leader has given the people a concrete idea of it. The language that accompanies the talk of a UCC by the BJP is not of national integration but of divisiveness.
The Prime Minister and the government he heads at the Centre have a major role in setting the national agenda. It would ideally be made of components that will take the country forward. If Mr Modi and his party believe that the UCC will indeed help usher in a more equitable, democratic and civilized society, then they should put their cards on the table and invite people for an open discussion. Occasional oblique references do not indicate a healthy approach to such a national issue.
