Uniform Civil Code

I have read quite a few articles on the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and none of them seem to have anything good to say about it. Most of them view it as a political stunt meant to create a sectarian strife with the 2024 general elections around the corner. One of the best illustrations comes from Madhyamam weekly. 

Uniform Civil Code is something that the Constituent Assembly discussed in detail and left aside as something not quite practical in a country like India which has too many diverse cultures and practices. I lived in Shillong for a decade and a half. The people of Meghalaya – Khasis, Garos and Jaintias – have their own traditional tribal cultures and practices which are not like the mainland’s culture and practices at all. They all follow slightly different versions of the matrilineal system. The youngest daughter inherits the family property. The surname of the children comes from the mother and not the father though the maternal uncle plays a vital role in many family matters. The kind of UCC that Modi & Co envisage won’t work in Meghalaya and many other tribal societies of India. In fact, it will destroy the entire social fabric in those tribal states of the northeast.

Now, I can only assume that Modi’s UCC won’t work in such places because Modi hasn’t given us any blueprint of the proposed UCC. He has merely thrown the idea into the arena where some people are expected to convert it into an effective electoral strategy.

Modi doesn’t have anything worthwhile to show for seeking a third-time mandate. Too large a number of Indians have relinquished Indian citizenship after 2014. The number of young people leaving the country in search of dignified living is rising year after year. Modi’s Ram Rajya is only a mirage, they know, except for a select few whose wealth keeps piling up.

7.5 crore people were added to the Below Poverty Line population in 2021 alone. More are being added; the figures will come out slowly only. Modi’s “India has the world’s highest number of poor children, amounting to a total of 97 million or about 21.8 per cent of the Indian children population between the ages of 0 and 17 years.” [Down To Earth, 17 Oct 2022] This India is home to a sizeable chunk of the world’s poorest people. 

From Down to Earth [link above]

Nothing is really shining in Modi’s India’s backyard, in short. Modi knows that. Hence he will need some electoral ploy like the earlier Ayodhya Temple. Now it is UCC. When some kind of unity is emerging among the opposition parties in the country and Modi feels threatened electorally, UCC is hurled into the arena with the clear intention of creating strife between Hindus and non-Hindus. Modi and Shah know very well that the strife will help them garner the Hindu votes. And that’s all what they want.

While discussing the Hindu Civil Code, Dr B R Ambedkar had said that whatever changes the upper caste Hindus may make, the caste system that keeps certain sections of people including women enslaved will continue to stay. Do you think the proposed UCC is going to liberate Indians to a greater freedom? I’m interested in hearing from you. The comments section below is open. Write away.