PPrime Minister Narendra Modi is emphasizing on this Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and accusing the opposition of trying to “instigate” Muslims on the issue. In 2017, Supreme Court declares triple talaq illegal, In a society aiming to be egalitarian, discriminatory laws would have to be progressively modified for different sections of the society.
Personal laws covering marriage, divorce, succession, inheritance, adoption, alimony and maintenance are a dangerous legacy of the British Raj. The sooner these are removed, the better it will be for the people. As Law Minister, BR Ambedkar, supported by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, had recommended the creation of the UCC, but favored it to be voluntary. He faced resistance to this idea. Since then, successive governments have failed to provide a UCC that is in line with India’s commitment to being a democratic, secular and socialist republic. They have succumbed to the vested interests of large sections of patriarchal Hindu society and Muslim groups who want to follow Sharia law.
doing politics
Today, it is ironic that the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is advocating the UCC, while the so-called liberal, socialist and secular Congress and the Left are opposed to it. Several regional parties have opposed the idea, while some like the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have maintained silence on it. Muslim organizations are dividedWhile the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has criticized the proposal, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has said that the UCC could affect all Indians.
All these parties are hypocrites. While the BJP lauded the Supreme Court’s triple talaq verdict, it opposed the Sabarimala verdict, saying the court cannot interfere in religious practices. The Congress said there was no need for the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, which criminalises triple talaq, as the practice had already been declared invalid by courts, even though Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi enacted it in 1986. did. Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act to set aside Shah Bano judgment of the court. During the debate on Sabarimala, the Congress supported Hindu fundamentalists who wanted a ban on women’s entry into the temple.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that it is for Parliament to make laws and related rules to implement the UCC as mentioned in Article 44 of the Constitution, and urged the government to do so in 2015. Although the suggestions of the UCC have been brought to the Parliament before, differences reportedly existed between the BJP and the RSS.
Once upon a time, sati system and child marriage were prevalent in India. Sati system was abolished due to the efforts of reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy. There are still cases of dowry and child marriage, although these practices have no legal sanction.
Hindus do not have uniform customs and practices. There are innumerable castes and sub-castes with their own beliefs and systems for marriage and remarriage of men and women. Even the rights of inheritance of property do not apply equally to men and women. In many parts of the country, a woman whose husband has died cannot remarry, while a man whose wife has died can remarry. In some communities, he marries the unmarried sister of his late wife. Regressive practices like “honour” killings and dreaded “love jihad” laws continue in some BJP-ruled states. Women bear the brunt of many of these practices. The same is the case among Muslims and their sub-sects and among other minority religions. Supreme Court order of 2014 Declaring that Muslim Shariat courts have no legal sanction There was a sharp reaction from some Muslim clerics, who tried to defend their right to practice their religion, including issuing fatwas under constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. The case pertained to a woman who was raped by her father-in-law. After the incident, the gram panchayat passed a fatwa asking her to accept him as her husband. The Dar-ul-Uloom declared that she had become unfit to live with her husband. It was supported by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. One of the bizarre arguments offered was that it was a punishment for the father-in-law to keep alive and maintain the girl he had raped.
equal under law
In mature democracies of the West, the law guarantees citizens the freedom to practice their religion in their private lives, but a common civil and criminal code applies to all citizens and immigrants, regardless of race, creed, color or sex. . The judicial systems and civil codes in all these countries evolved over 200 years. It should not be anybody’s business to impose the civil code applicable to Hindus on Muslims or other minorities. Khap Panchayats are as harmful to the progress of women and society as Fatwas or Shariat courts. Every citizen should come under uniform civil and penal code so that all are equal under law. A nation should protect its women and give them complete freedom and equal opportunities like men. It would be good for the government to take the initiative and distance itself from its own party supporters and affiliated fundamentalist organizations to depoliticize the issue and take the best from the democratic world and the country’s own laws under the guidance of the Supreme Court and a well thought out UCC in the Parliament Pass it so that it becomes a law in every state without exception. Only then the society will be really developed, modern and civilized.
Captain GR Gopinath is a soldier, farmer and founder of Air Deccan