COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

Any reform in Muslim personal laws and the implementation of a uniform civil code (UCC) does not indicate a descent into majoritarianism, says historian and author Tripurdaman Singh.

Indeed, the idea of democracy backsliding is a misnomer in the Indian context, he says, for it misunderstands the historical context in which our democracy was born, and the constitutional/ institutional structure on which it is premised.

As for the UCC, “it doesn’t reek of majoritarianism at all. In fact, (it is) the opposite,” Singh said, adding that, generally, when consequential steps for reform were taken, they had been justified by reference to the directive principles of state policy. “The idea (was) that these were in effect guidelines based on which the governance of the country was to be conducted. So, there was an idea, and it was very much put into the Constitution in the form of directive principles, that one day we would have (a) universal civil law,” he added.