UCC As A Tool For "National Unity": A Historical Critique Of This Argument In India, Referencing The Debates On The Hindu Code Bill, And Its Effectiveness In Fostering National Integration
Vanshika Rathi, JGLS
Kashvi Badera, JGLS
Research Question
How did the normative concerns of national integrity, parity between laws and gender justice shape the need for UCC in the post-colonial India?
Uniform Civil Code: A herald for unity in diversity
India is a land of diversity encompassing and embracing varied landscapes, numerous languages and dialects, and a wide array of cultures, religions, and ethnicities. This diversity not only makes India unique compared to any other nation but also raises concerns of cooperation and survival. Yet time and again, the people of India have come past their differences and united against invaders, tyrants and colonisers to prove our unity in diversity is the beauty and the test of our civilization.
Laws of the country not only govern the state but also have held it together in times of peace and crises. But sustaining unity in a diverse nation requires not just constitutional design but also constant renewal of cooperative and institutional trust. The debate on the UCC, which seeks to bring a multitude of personal laws under one common civil framework, is grounded in a similar pursuit of national unity.
The story of Article 44 of the Constitution
In a dissent note to a report by the sub-committee of the Advisory Committee of the Constituent Assembly, demarcating justiciable and non-justiciable fundamental rights, 3 members of the Committee asserted their view in favour of granting justiciability to UCC and added that : “One of the factors that has kept India back from advancing into nationhood has been the existence of personal laws based on religion which keep the nation divided into watertight compartments in many aspects of life. We are of the view that a uniform civil code should be guaranteed to the Indian people within a period 5 to 10 years...”
