The RSS and BJP have been speaking about a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for last 70 years. It would be wrong to say that nothing has been done towards that direction, but YES more could have been achieved.
What is the biggest stumbling block for UCC today? It is a law code for Muslims- which is still governed by Shariat.
If we look at Christian, Parsi and Hindu law codes, there are a lot of commonality between them. If Hindu law code is applied on Christians then the life of an average Christian person may not change much. Same for Parsis. Hindu also includes Sikh, Jains and Buddhists.
What will the positive impact if India repeals all the sperate laws for different religions and enforces a UCC?
- Women and children especially the Muslim women who have to face injustice due to Shariat will get more security. Discrimination against Muslim Women will reduce. The Govt has taken steps by outlawing triple talaq, but that is too little, too late.
- Many evil practices like nikah halala, discrimination of Muslim women in matters of inheritance will vanish.
- The The influence of Mullahs and Maulvis on the Muslim society will go away.
- Most of the Madrassas will shut down.
- Talibanization of Muslim youth will be greatly reduced.
- All communities being will be governed by one law. This will further unify India.
- With one single law governing all Communities(instead of 10s of separate laws), burden on Judiciary will go down, as it will be easier for Judges to give verdicts.
- The current law says that Muslims will be governed by Shariat. But please note, there are many flavors of shariat due to which Muslim personal matters are subject to interpretation. With UCC in place, the fuzziness in the matter of Muslim personal laws will vanish.
- Last but not the least, controversies like the Hijab controversy will become things of past.
Just as Hindu law code unified Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains all over India, a UCC will unify all the religions and reveal a true Indian character.
Hence, it is important for govt to take concrete steps for bringing in an UCC.
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