Skip to main content

The Search for Similitude

KM Munshi, a revered drafting committee member, wanted a uniform civil code; otherwise, he believed it would be impossible to reform the attitude of Hindu society towards women. However, the case for a uniform civil code would lose out to a 5:4 vote split in the same and has remained a controversial page ever since. Today, the call for UCC is pressing in the Islamic corners of Indian society, as the supreme court noted in its landmark Shah Bano case of 1985. The then-incumbent prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, was already worried about his northeast and south pursuits and did not want to mettle with the turbulent religious politics. Ever since BJP has made it a part of the manifesto.

There are a few merits to the UCC case, such as the ambiguous nature of marriages in multiple committees and the growing disparity in the civil laws between the Hindu and Muslim communities. one of the most cited examples is the provision of polygamy in the Muslim community and the triple lakh law. Present-day politics need to be more polarised to accommodate these differences. One of the greatest needs for the UCC comes from the women population, which remains a vulnerable class in the rural and economically deprived sections of society. In principle, the UCC would give an equal legal standpoint to all citizens of the country and could work to alleviate the anger against political appeasement.

However, social laws and amendments have always drawn scepticism. The BN Rau committee, which drafted a familiar series of rules for Hindus of the country, had to underwrite several special provisions to accommodate Hindu practices around the country. For example, interfamily marriage among cross cousins is considered contentious in the north but auspicious in the south. Such has also been the case with IPC rules, with each State having disparity in fines and criminal procedures. Any exercise to iron out these differences will be insensitive to the accumulated diversity and states nurture as their identity.

Perhaps that's why multiple committees have often delayed the implementation of the UCC, calling the Indian society premature for the grand uniformity. This is where the Indian union closely resembles the European Union, an assembling of states which agree on polity and economics. However, when it comes to civil and personal laws, it is uncomfortable to have the State interfere in them. This leaves us with a final question, what about the injustices prevalent in religious laws? We will have to cherry-pick and criminalise them, as with their antecedents, until religion becomes a personal affair and the State can enforce common basic civil laws. 

Popular posts from this blog

Election afterthoughts

The unfolding of the Indian election might have come as a surprise to many, for one is the BJP who steamrolled the campaign seasons with slogans of "400 par". While it remains 240 seats popular in a house of 520 members, a few stories should not go unnoticed. First, the BJP's popularity and the win for a third term is no ordinary feat. Only a few leaders of the past have managed such an elusive feat. This, indeed, is the trust that the brand Modi has built over the years. In politics, we often get acclimatized to the situations, in certain aspects too critical of it. When the young generation looked at Indira Gandhi's cabinet, they vowed never to again let such a solid mandate to a single party that its chief could declare an emergency, and no structures would be able to prevent that. This, however, ended up in fragmented colours in the Lok Sabha, the era of coalitions and surprise prime ministers. Needless to say, the horse-trading of MPs and the mindless corruption ...

Birth of a flood - a poet's admire of rain

The sky is almost dark, save for those last golden tinges that would fade in no time. As palm trees mark the oblivion, a muddy reflection forms the ground. The last few days were mostly rainy. So profound is our love for rain. And why wouldn't we? Unlike most other seasons, rain is so tender. A drop of patience which is about to reach its final destiny. Every time I look at raindrops, they remind me of a struggle. A journey that begins with summer in an aura of dry and burning heat. And in no time, the drop loses its sources. The long-held identity of its mother. With the loss of identity, an awakening awaits. The pleasure of reaching out and bonding. As our drop moves up and up the end of the sky, it realises the futility of pride and the necessity to bond. This comes with age. Not until it is near Earth does it agree to meet with other wanderers of the new world. And finally, all our drops reach the cold atmosphere. The coldness makes life dreary and lonely. As the youthfulne...

Turning back from pull to push

Two recent campaigns deserve attention from marketing enthusiasts, one of Campa Cola (reenergised by the Reliance Group) and of Tata Sampann's species. The challenges these two brands face are too distinct from one another. Campa, on the one hand, aims to fight the global brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, whereas Sampann looks to create a market in indian spices that has been dominated by local players like MDH and Everest. However, their strategies have something in common: getting the distributors to stock more of their products on the shelves. Campa is offering the distributors twice the margins, while Sampann is leveraging its vast portfolio to make stocking only Tata products a win for the distributors. Image credit: Economic Times To understand why this is happening, and what makes this interesting, one has to look back on the history of marketing, more specifically the shift from a push to a pull-based marketing, where the focus of the brands shifted from pushing their produc...