The proponents of a uniform civil code have been campaigning for it even before the independence of India. India has always been a place of many colors and spices and before independence in 1947 it would have been hard to point out what constituted India. 
Fighting the British rule and winning our independence also helped in creating this nation we call India. It was known even at that time that to further unite India and make it a truly secular nation we would need a uniform civil code. But even after 66 years of independence we haven’t been able to do this.
The reasons for why this has not been done are complex and a different topic on its own but it all boils down to political will. Politicians have always found it beneficial to play vote bank politics and try to appease different castes and groups instead of attempting to integrate our nation. Instead of focusing on the negative let’s focus on the positive and talk about the reasons why we do need a uniform civil code.
7. It Promotes Real Secularism
What we have right now in India is selective secularism which means that in some areas we are secular and in others we aren’t. A uniform civil code means that all citizens of India have to follow the same laws whether they are Hindus or Muslims or Christians or Sikhs. This sounds fair and secular to me. A uniform civil code doesn’t mean it will limit the freedom of people to follow their religion, it just means that every person will be treated the same. That’s real secularism.
6. All Indians Should be Treated Same
Right now we have personal laws based on particular religions, which means that while Muslims can marry multiple times in India, a Hindu or a Christian will be prosecuted for doing the same. This doesn’t seem like equality to me. All the laws related to marriage, inheritance, family, land etc. should be equal for all Indians. This is the only way to ensure that all Indians are treated same.
5. It will Give More Rights to the Women
A uniform civil code will also help in improving the condition of women in India. Our society is extremely patriarchal and misogynistic and by allowing old religious rules to continue to govern the family life we are condemning all Indian women to subjugation and mistreatment. A uniform civil code will help in changing these age old traditions that have no place in today’s society where we do understand that women should be treated fairly and given equal rights.
4. Every Modern Nation Has it
A uniform civil code is the sign of modern progressive nation. It is a sign that the nation has moved away from caste and religious politics. While our economic growth has been the highest in the world our social growth has not happened at all. In fact it might be right to say that socially and culturally we have degraded to a point where we are neither modern nor traditional. A uniform civil code will help the society move forward and take India towards its goal of becoming a developed nation.
3. Personal Laws Are a Loop Hole
The various personal laws are basically a loop hole to be exploited by those who have the power. Our panchayats continue to give judgments that are against our constitution and we don’t do anything about it. Human rights are violated through honor killings and female foeticide through out our country. By allowing personal laws we have constituted an alternate judicial system that still operates on thousands of years old values. A uniform civil code would change that.
2. It Will Help in Reducing Vote Bank Politics
A uniform civil code will also help in reducing vote bank politics that most political parties indulge in during every election. If all religions are covered under the same laws, the politicians will have less to offer to certain minorities in exchange of their vote. Not having a uniform civil code is detrimental to true democracy and that has to change.
1. It Will Integrate India
A uniform civil code will help in integrating India more than it has ever been since independence. A lot of the animosity is caused by preferential treatment by the law of certain religious communities and this can be avoided by a uniform civil code. It will help in bringing every Indian, despite his caste, religion or tribe, under one national civil code of conduct.
Aditya Thakur is an ex marine engineer who quit his sailing career to pursue his dreams of being a writer. Now he freelances, blogs and writes short stories all day long.
All the reasons are correct. Plus in every nation it must have ONE PEOPLE ONE LAW. NO DISCRIMINATION. THIS IS REAL SECULARISM IN GOVERNMENT.
Dear Indians, we should first of all, should not get emotion on religious matter and we should think and try to understand the real fact.
Before bringing uniform civil code, let all bloody politicians abolish bribe from India and bring limited time limit for bribe cases and punish them.
Secondly abolish all state and make it one India, because the constitutions are vary state to state. It should be rectified first before take about common civil code.
There should not be religion, cast and sub cast in any of application.
Such there all lot of things as I mentioned above
This is Islamophobia pure & simple.This will develop cracks into our weak social fabric.The real problem in India is communalism & backwardness &discrmination against Muslims.If you are sincere & honest look at their development.All the 7 points mentioned above are superficial & a little cross checking will bulldose it.Think of unity in diversity—a best guarantee to our UNITY.
i think every muslims are brain washed.. its not about a particular religion!!! its about the unifrmity and every modern nation had implemented the uniform civil codeder muslims dont don’t protests bcoz they know that country is first then religion.. but as we indians are so divided and racism is a daily cup of tea in india(tu bhaiya,tu marathi,tu musalman,tu sradar,main dalit etc etc) the uniform civil code will bring equality and uniformity.. a country must have a uniform civil law code… it will give a big blow to hindu and muslims religiously fanatic.mark my words m talking about ‘religious fanatic’ it doesn’t means that all hindus and muslims are fanatic… and who told u that muslims were sidelined.. today we have 3 khans who rule bollywood.. our president was muslim, many muslims are representing india in cricket and people love them also… in various creative field many muslims had acclaimed positions!! see the advertising field for example… actually Uttar pradesh is a blot in india bcoz of dis state er r suffering!! and pls dont think that muslims are sidelined i love them.. i have freinds who r muslims… here we r not talking abt a particular religion.. infact a jusdge who was a muslim had given a very good judgement in high court of jammu and kashmir.. that there should be only one religon which INDIANISMN!! THAT IT… THINK RATIONALLY!!! NOT FANATICALLY!!! PLS
Please do not bluff. What is your loss in different civil code. First, be unite for developing our mother country and do not put you nose in any thing which you do not understand real fact. Your mean to say our Mahatma and other freedom fighters are fool if you think so I agree with you.
Begum Nusrat Abdullah ,
The world is moving towards treating humans beings as one, beyond barriers of nations and across genders. Archiac hindu personal laws and equally misogynistic islamic laws hardly have any place in an equal world.
Please look beyond your own islam-infused-insecurity and see the world of good it will do to women in general.
Wake up!
Every nation in the world has SINGLE UNIFORM CODE on which EVERY citizen is judged and live by NOT sure what part of that is Islamaphobia for you? It seems like you want to perpetuate laws for each and every religion.
its apathy of hindus that inspite of muslims given a seprate state on religion basis i.e. pakistan, muslims have been given inherent rights to spread hatred against hindus by way of giving them liberty to propogate their shariat law. it has resulted drastic adverse results as the population of muslims in comparison to other religions have been increased and by way of this legal protection the fanatical zihadis have been trying to islamization of india. instant implementationo of uniform civil code is required else…
great writing, i dont understand why we eduated people think of being called hindus or muslims rather we should feel honored to be called as Indians, i strongly belive that uniform civil code is must for india.
While I agree with most of the points you have raised, I find the claim
“If all religions are covered under the same laws, the politicians will have less to offer to certain minorities in exchange of their vote.”
to be very naive and divisive. What exactly have politicians ‘offered’ under Muslim Personal Law, that gives Muslims an ‘advantage’ over other communities, in exchange for votes?
Also, I see that you have raised the issue of polygamy. True, it is a very relevant issue. But it is not an issue that is specific to Muslim community alone. Many studies have shown that the issue is widespread amongst rural population IRRESPECTIVE of religion.
Muslims get subsidies for hajj,hindus have to pay taxes,now several state govt. are having seperate entrance exams for ‘minority’. This is all injustice to me and if ucc can solve this,im all for it. The muslim lady above thinks ucc is naive and divisive but actually its the muslim appeasement by so called seculars which is dividing on the line of one’s faith,moreover i think for those muslims who believed that they will not be allowed to follow their faith freely, a whole country was created. They are free to go there and enjoy their quran based progress.
Unlike other Muslim country, India has chosen the way of secularism giving all religions same place.
Uniform Code is good move to strong the Unity and equality.
Harsh and Strong Community oriented laws should not have any place here
Contrary to what many think, Uniform Civil Code is not new to India. In the state of Goa there is already Uniform Civil code i.e single law irrespective of religion or caste and registration of marriage is compulsory .
UCC is a must. I don’t know what the problem of some people is. Minority persecution? Lol. Hindu laws were reformed & all backward stuff removed right back in 1950s. UCC should’ve been implemented right then. What else was India divided for?
Or let’s include all those Taliban laws & be even more Sickular. Atleast 3 young educated Muslim MPs supported Supreme Court in Shah Bano case, though they knew they’ll lose votes .Lucknow’s MP Arif Ahmed even left Congress due to the party’s involvement in that case. Due to ‘secular’ parties we’ve all Mullahs representing Muslims, instead of someone like Abdul Kalam, Azim Premji,Shahid Siddiqui,MJ Akbar,etc, leading to detriment of Muslims themselves. 1952 Muslim parliamentarian MC Chagla too supported UCC. Unfortunately, the people who opposed above show the difference between literate & educated.
Uniform civil code is a must for truly secular India, but our corrupt politicians don’t have the courage to implement it due to their dirty vote bank politics.
whoever oppose against uniform civil code in india there will have no use.because these are the part and preparations for the one world government.what is one world government ?.The whole world is going to rule under one ruler.This is basically related to the second coming of Jesus Christ.that means the anti christ is going to take controll over the whole word by using a weapon peace and love.these are the prophetical fulfillment of the biblical words.for more information read bibles end time prophsies.and search youtube ,google about one world government and the world before the secondcoming of jesus christ .
Embrace diversity does not mean practice diverse laws..
Recently I heard a funny comment from a politician – saying in Islam taking or giving interest is SIN and so all bank has to give interest free loans to Muslims….Is this again equality?
There are also other fellow Indians who are suffering to pay interest for education loans, are we doing justice to them..
The basic problem which is hindering the implementation of UCC, is this very misunderstanding. Everybody wants their personal religious laws to be introduced into UCC, they are unable to recognise / demark between religion and law.
UCC is the very base to keep India united & secular.
All citizens are equal in the eyes of law which needs no acceptance as it’s the basic rule followed by most of the countries which has population from diverse religions. (Australia, Russia, UK) .
ysr as cm gave 4% special reservation to muslims….India being secular should treat all religions equal…..no other country treats minorities specially……we should restrospect ourselves……atleast a survey to be done by govt in all countries about their religious policies…..a perfect UCC should be amended soon….
Ucc is the first step towards separation of State from Religion. Those who oppose simply want to perpetuate their beliefs over others. Nobody, irrespective of their religious beliefs should be above the LAW.
One India
One rule
One uniform civil code
There should be one law for all bcoz religion comes after nation .all people should be treated equally.no one must be exploited or get undue advantage by resorting religious personal laws.UCC is the base of nation progress it develops unity and equality among citizens.
let’s be truthful with our own thoughts and wisdom. let’s never allow anyone to wash our brains. It’s very easy to determine any issue upon anyone whether it be just or unjust. All those issues to interfere any religion worth grave repentance. Let’s go back to history and analyze for what purpose did all Indians fought for the freedom of India. And according to me this kind of political challenges against religion is the sign of a calamity from God almighty. Either come back to islam and learn the teachings and principles to accept the challenge to find a single teaching which is against humanity or be at ur own religion which will ensure the torment fire as according to all religious scripts…
I completely agree with the view taken about the need for UCC. However, it should not be modeled on the framework of Hindu Code. The concept of secularism should become the hero of the UCC and not become victimized. I have discussed this at length on my blog https://hashtaglaw.blogspot.in/2016/10/equality-before-law.html read it if you wish and give you comments to the recent questionnaire released by Law Commission of India.
uniform Civil code is not applicable in a diverse country like India as far as the minority are concern.There is no need as such of special reservation or something which benefit the minority.India can unite together without such law if the govt.is ready to move out of its comfort zone.
I can’t figure out why Muslims are opposing it. Uniform Civil Code has already implemented on hindus in the name of Hindu Code Bill by which there is only 1 law applicable to all hindus. But Muslims have some other religious beliefs and I respect that.. But triple talaq, polygamy are strictly against women rights and are patriarchal form of social setup. I don’t want to hurt the religious freedom but a equal law for all not only make india one country,but also protect women rights.. I support #UniformCivilCode
As an Indian practicing Muslim women , I completely agree with you . Uniform civil code is a must . It should be mandatory. In our country in the name of Islam women are given less inheritance . The reason being men should provide for women . But at the time of marriage men ask for dowry which is illegal in Islam and the mahr given is peanuts compared to dowry .
Ucc would help stop dowry , the reason dowry or gold is given because women get less inheritance unfortunately dowry goes to the inlaws.
It also gives extended family like uncles and aunts right to take a portion of the property of family which comprises only of girl children . If you have a boy then they cannot
Stake claim . Which is completely unfair . There are a lot of loop holes in today’s Indian Islamic sharia law.
The quran states” follow the law of the land”
. Today we are being abused by the law which was supposed to protect us . Islam does not expect women to work and the men are to provide but today women contribute to the family if not equally but more . It’s only fair for women ucc is implemented in India .
In countries like Saudi Arabia women are given rights at the time of marriage the girl demands the mahr they demand house , maid and also monthly allowance only for her which can be from 25% to 50% of husbands pay plus she gets to keep her salary if she is working . There is no pressure on her to find job or bring dowry .because these are rights given by Islam . In India all the laws are missued . Women are given peanuts as mahr on top of that they are taken to husbands house and she is taken for granted . Nor does the husband protect her from inlaws.and then there is dowry were husbands family demands. So basically we Indian Muslim women don’t get the rights given to us by our religion nor do we get the rights our non Muslim sisters get .
I hope the present government considers ucc . It would be a positive step on empowering women . a lot of Muslim women would support this move .
Good thoughts.. must appreciate
Each and every point above lack concrete reason and basis and ignores the reality that Uniform civil code is a tool by politicians to meddle with minority’s rights and will.