CODE OF CONFLICT

With the Uttarakhand government convening a special assembly session to enact the Uniform Civil Code, the BJP is reasserting its political intent to put in place a common set of family laws for all citizens

- SONI MISHRA

When discussions on the Uniform Civil Code started at the Constituent Assembly, it ignited an emotionally charged beginning. The assembly saw some of its most heated arguments on November 23, 1948, the day it debated and approved the placing of the UCC under the Directive Principles of the Constitution.

The Directive Principles were being discussed that day, and Article 35, which dealt with the UCC, was pushed back to the end of the list so that it could be discussed at length. The debate saw impassioned arguments being made both for and against having the UCC. The members who were against the UCC— many of them from the Muslim community—argued that personal laws were distinct from other categories of law because they were part of the tradition, culture, customs and religion of different communities. It would interfere with the freedom to practise religion, and would, instead of promoting harmony, sow the seeds of disunity.

A member pointed out that he and some others in the assembly had received pamphlets from both Muslim and Hindu groups who felt that any interference with their personal laws was “most tyrannous”. It was asked whether it was possible in a country as vast and diverse as India to have a common set of family laws for all. There was also discussion on whether the term UCC covered the wider ambit of civil laws in the country and not strictly the personal laws. 

THE ONLY PERSONAL LAW THAT IS EXCLUSIVELY SIKH IS THE ANAND KARAJ ACT FOR REGISTERING SIKH MARRIAGES. THE SHIROMANI GURDWARA PARBANDHAK COMMITTEE HAS REJECTED THE UCC, SAYING IT THREATENS THE IDENTITY OF MINORITIES.