On the 78th Independence Day, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the Red Fort. (Ministry of Public Transport)
There is a school of thought that what the Prime Minister meant by a secular civil code was a proposed law that would only address differences based on religion
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the master of terminology, proposed a new policy – a secular civil code – from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, leaving many curious about the meaning of the term.
By now, India is familiar with the Uniform Civil Code. Prime Minister Modi, however, described the existing civil code as “public” and advocated a “secular” alternative.
“The current civil code appears to be communal. India needs a secular civil code. There is a need now to enact a secular civil code and abolish the discriminatory public civil code,” he said as Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud listened in the audience said.
Prime Minister Modi mentioned that the issue has been under review for a long time. “The Supreme Court has had many discussions and issued many orders on the Uniform Civil Code. A large part of the country believes – and indeed it is – that the Civil Code we now have is actually a unified civil code to some extent. A public civil code… I would say that now there is a need for a secular civil code in the country… Only then can we be free from discrimination based on religion…”
There are, of course, legitimate questions: Is the Prime Minister repackaging the UCC as a secular civil code? If not, what are the fundamental differences between the UCC and the secular civil code?
Secular Civil Code VS UCC
Jamal Siddiqui, minority leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said the two are the same but done differently.
“Both are the same, but the way of expression is important. It helps people understand better. I commend the Prime Minister for making the discussion of the Civil Code more accessible to the people,” he told News18. Siddiqui added that the country is secular and therefore any civil code should also be “secular”.
The term “Uniform Civil Code” is mentioned in Article 44 of Part 4 of the Constitution of India which states: “The State shall endeavor to ensure to the citizens throughout the territory of India a uniform Civil Code.”
The framers of the Indian Constitution left the creation of a code to the future, but it never became law. The UCC is intended to be a unified body of civil law covering various matters such as inheritance, marriage, adoption, inheritance and divorce, applicable to all citizens irrespective of their religion, community, race, gender and caste. However, India currently has a religion-specific citizenship law, which the BJP has been working on bringing under a common umbrella. Siddiqui considered this endeavor a secular approach, hence the name.
some people think it's different
There is a school of thought that what the Prime Minister meant by a secular civil code was a proposed law that would only address differences based on religion. But this does not involve the traditions of tribal communities who have also been opposed to the UCC.
“We welcome this nomenclature. As the Prime Minister said, this will end any discrimination on the basis of religion, which is the need of the hour. But I think the BJP has made its stand clear that the traditions of tribal communities will not be harmed. Mahajan The reference was to Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio's statement last year when he claimed that Amit Shah had assured that the UCC would not be applicable to STs in the northeast where most tribals live.
Moreover, the late former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi also advocated excluding the northeastern tribes from the ambit of the joint committee. Even RSS affiliates like Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram have expressed their concerns. One school of thought, therefore, believes that what Prime Minister Modi has termed the Secular Civil Code is a proposed law in which differences based solely on religion will be simplified while norms for different tribes remain unchanged. For example, women of the Santhal and Kol tribes have no property rights, while the Garos have a long-standing custom of the youngest daughter becoming the heir of the family.
The Prime Minister has just introduced the phrase, calling for a “discussion” on the “current needs” to end “discrimination on the basis of religion…”.
