Article 44 of the Constitution of India states, “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India” indicating thereby that we (I say we out of politeness) are entangled in a mess of loose talk of unity in diversity when in truth, and on the basis of a strict reckoning, a wrong kind of diversity is to be found everywhere. Such reckless talk must end. “The object behind this Article is to effect an integration of India by bringing all communities on a common platform on matters which are at present governed by laws that do not form the essence of any religion, e.g. divorce, maintenance for divorced wife, etc” (Jorden Vs Chopra and Ahmed Vs Shah Banoo). In brief, merely as an introduction, the Indian way of life is in need of a renaissance. There have been many reformers beginning with the movement of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Head of the drafting Committee that drafted the Constitution of India among others.
The Constituent Assembly refused to come out openly with what they meant by “to secure a Uniform Civil Code” and they themselves refused to draft a Code. They already knew that in spelling even more clearly what they meant would hurt the sentiments of many. Already the Muslim members in the Constituent Assembly were apprehensive that their personal law might be abrogated – clarifications had to be provided, chief among which was that a uniform law applicable to all citizens would promote national unity, national integration, and that even under Art 25, which guarantees one’s freedom of religion, did not grant the same freedom to the secular activities that were associated with the religious practice.
From then till now the only tangible steps taken in this direction were the codification and secularization of Hindu Law, followed by the ruling in August 2017 when the Supreme Court declared talaq-e-bidat (instant or triple talaq) illegal. In July 2019, Parliament passed a law making instant talaq an offence punishable by three years of imprisonment. However activists say men are opting for other unilateral forms of divorce or simply deserting their wives. Laws are not enough – one would have to be naïve to believe that they are.
So why is the UCC a problem? At least that is what everyone everywhere is making it out to be and above all the Nagas, who, among all the races in the North East are the most politically astute, and even they are not regarding it as a quiet problem and have fastidiously directed themselves to it with threats and a war cry. The political gene is certainly dominant in the Nagas. They seem to have a fundamental insight that is denied to the other races in the North East, and this is evident in their election of a government to run the State, because now the Party that runs the State is the same as the Party that runs the Central government and still they raise alarm bells at the proposed UCC; it is no mere hint that some mischief, some hypocrisy is likely.
Speculation that there is hypocrisy in the way things are going on is rampant, and so when leaders say that the UCC will not affect our Schedule Tribe Status (ST) and our land tenure systems we doubt them and see the UCC as a Pandora’s Box: on the outside beautiful, loaded with enticing gifts and sweet talk – once accepted the most evil plans and designs fly out to do perpetual harm to the people by day and night…
We have to use some subtle thinking to understand this. The Supreme Court appreciates the difficulties involved in bringing persons of different faiths on a common platform, but nevertheless the Court has said that a beginning has to be made. Take the case of a woman hailing from a matrilineal society marrying a man from a patrilineal one, I’m referring to the case of Kong Jorden Diengdoh Vs S S Chopra (Jorden Vs Chopra A 1985 S.C. 935 (Para. 7), in which the Supreme Court observed that “Surely the time has now come for a complete reform of the law of marriage and make a uniform law applicable to all people irrespective of religion or caste….we suggest that the time has come for the legislatures…to provide for a uniform code of marriage and divorce…” From the above it is obvious that religion and caste was the problem in the marriage and in the dissolution of the marriage. A uniform code is vital in such cases.
The Caste System may have been abolished but it is still practiced, perpetuated by the holy men who categorize people at birth. The holy men do not accept marriage outside of the Caste and still dictate that the child of such a union is an “outcaste.” How long can we go on closing our eyes to the issue of a child being chastised as an outcaste for no fault of its own? This defies every canon of law, every instinct of the milk of human goodness – “a hundred guilty may go free than that one innocent should be punished.” All these marriage-related issues could be readily solved and the UCC can do that. If the UCC does indeed settle the corruption that religion and the Caste System has caused on the nation it would be an unprecedented achievement in the political history of this country…in fact the greatest ever yesterday, today and forever and ever.
The key problem we face in India is a religious one – not a secular or a socialone. Present day holy men have become authoritarian, as if the land and the rivers belong to them and they demand that religion should impact people’s secular lives. And that is the problem we face – a threat to our ST status and our Land Tenure Systems. But, that Pandora’s Box (UCC) will attempt to impact the ST status or our land tenure systems is very slim…it would jeopardize the seemingly close ties between a hard-line mainland group (RSS?) and the followers of our traditional belief system. Still we need to be prepared and not confront it as if it is an event that has no consequences.
There are hurdles in the path of the UCC, chief among them being the recent trend to bring religion into politics, because this has brought religious intolerance with it. Religious intolerance covertly backed by people in power has disintegrated the people and the people are skeptical. Added to this is the suspicion that political institutions are easily corrupted by a personality. This has prompted the people to ask, “What motive does the Ruling Party have for pursuing the UCC now when religious intolerance is at its peak?” We are asked to ignore the issue of religious intolerance; are we abnormal for doing so? These questions have drawn the people’s attention to the UCC – more than ever before the UCC has to contend with the suspicion of the people, the suspicion that it might express a religious dogma instead of a secular principle.
Bad religious dogmas are exactly what the UCC must rid the country of, primarily among them being intolerance of other religions. Religious intolerance has no bearing whatsoever to the essence of any religion, and if there is, that needs to be scrapped. For anyone to stay optimistic when they see the trend of religious intolerance growing ever stronger and violent in the country is faith in deed; even the European Parliament has taken note of it. Yet what could be more essential than faith? Nothing succeeds in which faith and hope does not play a crucial part and especially the faith and hope that the UCC will bring an end to religious intolerance in India. Caste and Religion are dealt with only by the holy men, not the politicians. Now the politicians have the opportunity to draw a line between religion and politics or succumb to the deception of the holy men. Will the holy men have a greater say in the politics of the country or will they be sidelined? The dilemma that plagued the Congress governments for over half a century is now in the lap of the BJP.
Indians have occupied an important position in the world of science and technology not because of their belief in holy men and their methods of knowledge but in refutation of them. Because no matter how much they might wish to “dope” us into believing the metaphysical world, knowledge of it is inconsequential. Let the holy men and their idiosyncrasies remain in their house of prayer and mantras. If India is to build upon what it is, it needs a knowledge surpassing all previous knowledge based on sound technological and scientific standards – an all round renaissance. This is the enormous task for the great minds in the next decade and right now great minds are scarce.
Call us suspicious, but we are honest with ourselves which is not what we can say about our rulers. And so we will continue to suspect something ulterior, because of the rough, violent, corrupt and impetuous nature of our rulers by virtue of which they feel themselves to be persons of a higher rank, persons who have the right to impose their ways upon us… yes we need help from on high.
