Uniform Civil Code in India – What is there for Hindus in it?

Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a recent proposition by the Indian government that wants to nullify the personal laws based on religions in the aspects of marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption etc. In India, different religions have different norms in these aspects and these norms are created by religious institutions. The constitution of India gave the religious institutions the freedom to create such personal laws.

After independence of India, the UCC was not imposed due to social and political tensions. Instead, implementation of UCC was kept aside as a duty for the future government. Since then, there have been many legal cases where it was seen that the constitution of India and the personal laws are contradictory to the point it promoted religious conversion, gender inequality and injustice.

As an example, the constitution of India says that after divorce, husband must give allowance to the ex-wife as maintenance. But, in the popular case of Shah Bano in 1978, this rule of constitution was negated by Muslim Sharia Law that says that the husband needs not to provide for the ex-wife after triple talaq. As the constitution says that all Indians have the fundamental right to follow their own religious practices, the particular norm of constitution was overruled by the sharia law. This verdict (1980) was strongly opposed by many liberals and pro-women entities as it should be. However, due to Muslim Law Board, the government had to amend the constitution itself.

Now, in 2023, the government has proposed the UCC that has a few fundamental rules related to marital matters. The UCC, if imposed, will overrule the sharia laws like the one mentioned earlier. The particular points in the UCC are-

1. Compulsory registration of marriage irrespective of religion – There are different types of marriage namely registry marriage, social marriage etc. The registry marriage offers a legal proof of marital bonds between two entities. Whereas, the social marriage is based on cultural norms- just like in Hinduism, people revolve around the fire 7 times and exchange garlands, give sindoor etc. This social marriage is based on trust and morality. In one hand, the UCC may give more power to women in case the abrupt divorce happens. On the other hand, it fails to recognize the aspect of mutual trust and morality in the sacred bond of marriage. Personally, I believe that for Hindu community in India, this law of UCC has no meaning because Sanatani people always respects the sacred ground of marriage. On the other hand, this may empower the Special Marriage Act that lets a Hindu person remain Hindu and still marry a Muslim or Christian person through court marriage (whereas the Muslim personal law mandates Islamic conversion).
2. Age of consent of marriage should be uniform – For different cultures, age of marriage is different. In some tribes, people marry during teenage years whereas, in some places, a legal age of 18 is maintained for marriage. The UCC proposes that all around India, there will be a legal age of marriage irrespective of religion of culture. In my opinion, on one hand, this can help in reducing the number of child marriages. Furthermore, it will reduce the cases of death where minor girls pass away during child-birth. On the other hand, it may impose burden on poor families who wishes to marry off their daughters due to financial reasons. Plus, imposing a rule does not mean that people will follow that. It is not like a girl can be under 18 and ‘cannot’ marry, people will do that discreetly anyway. Also, for Hindu community, this rule has no effect because it is hard to find examples where a Hindu girl gets married before turning 18. Even if such case occurs, the UCC won’t be able to stop it anyway. In case such case comes forward and police intervenes, bribing is always a way to avoid chaos. Thus, corruption may increase.
3. If there is an irrevocable breakdown point in marital life, either parties will get the right to have divorce. – This means that if a marriage has become such useless that either party is finding impossible to remain in the marital bond, both parties have the right to appeal for divorce. Again, this norm fails to recognize the sacred platform of marriage that is based on trust and love. As per traditional Hindu marriage, once two entities get married, their bond is everlasting. Hindus don’t get married thinking that they will get divorced or they will screw each other’; our Sanatani culture is thus an anti-divorce culture. However, some Christian laws regarding divorce are supposedly gender-biased. As an example, the Goa Civil Code says that if a wife commits adultery, the husband can seek divorce. However, a wife can seek divorce if husband’s adultery is socially scandalous or the husband performs adultery in the same house or abandons the wife. Apparently, the UCC will give equal opportunities to the Christian wives in term of divorce but from the perspective of justice, this point of UCC has no value. It is due to how men and women think and act. Our world is sexist; men and women promiscuity are different. A woman’s worth lies in her chastity and character whereas, a man’s worth lies in his achievements and personality. This is why, it is as easy for a woman to be promiscuous as it is hard for a man to build his worth to get multiple partners. A man who is of high value, does not have to seek multiple women, rather, women will be willing to be with such man. Look at the female fan followers of any politician and celebrity. In many cases, even if a wife knows about husband’s adultery, she does not want to seek divorce because of emotional bondage, children, security, social conditions etc. Also, from a psychological perspective, in such cases, a wife would not want to leave a desirable man. Yes, it is true that UCC will help the wife to get allowance and property from the ex-husband but a woman’s true happiness hardly depends upon materialism. I actually think that this rule of UCC will affect the natural feminine side of women as they might abuse this as a new tool to simply seek emotional violence. The failure of our society is that we made everyone believe that a girl is unsuccessful unless she is earning money or competing with boys. On the other hand, we failed boys to teach how to become a responsible man.
4. Both spouses are equally entitled to property acquired after marriage. – This norm will be helpful again in case of divorce because then no party will be able to deprive the other party from properties. In my perspective, this is a gender-neutral law because then both husband and wife can get portions of each other’s properties. However, again, the rule fails to recognize the spiritual and moral aspects of marriage because it focuses only on materialism. I am also afraid that this norm may make either party to file divorce on the partner based on minor issues or even falsely accuse just to acquire properties.
5. Bigamy upon conversion will be banned- As per Islamic personal laws, a Muslim man can have multiple wives. Supposedly, this is one reason that makes a Hindu man convert into Islam. I personally believe that it is a very foolish thing because- to have multiple happy partners, a man needs not to change religion, but to develop his earnings and personality. On one hand, this particular rule may make a Hindu guy think twice before conversion as he is about to do something illegal but on the other hand, it is questionable how many people will actually follow the law.

Now, let’s discuss upon different reactions about the UCC.

1. Most Hindus are very happy about the UCC. And I have no idea why so, because Hindus are not gaining anything. The UCC is mostly about reforming the Islamic laws by removing triple talaq (oral divorce without giving allowance), keeping multiple wives, nikah halala (a Muslim can remarry his divorced wife only if the woman is married to another person and receives talaq) etc. But there is no such customs in Hindu community, so why are Hindus ecstatic about this? One thing that can benefit Hindus is that, the Muslims may get disturbed and leave India, which may enhance the chance of forming a Hindu rashtra, but honestly the chance is insignificant because of the aspect of land-jihaad. Muslims are unlikely to leave Indian land. A more possible case is that there will be riots from the Muslim community that will hamper lives of normal citizens. Also, implementing a law does not mean changing mindset and morality. When there are laws, there will always be people who will break the laws.
2. The feminist groups say that UCC is for women empowerment. Again, I have no idea how so because as discussed earlier, it only focuses on material aspects but hardly on the spiritual aspect. What is the meaning of such wealth if it comes at a cost of one’s happiness? A woman receives ultimate happiness from love and emotions, not by property. In my opinion, UCC is against femininity. Feminists may say that polygamy is an immoral practice. And in my opinion, polygamy is immoral only when a woman keeps multiple partners because then there is no way to know (without DNA testing) who is the father of her children. And if one husband is not the father then why would he provide for the wife or the child? On the other hand, polygyny (a husband keeping multiple wives) used to be a tradition in even Hinduism. We have seen kings who had multiple wives, even a few decades ago, there would be normal households where a Hindu man would keep two wives. The reasons might be the first wife was unable to bear children or she was sick to perform household or marital duties. But the husband was responsible enough to not abandon her but provide for her and perform the duties. But the constitution was implemented, such traditions were criminalized overnight. However, till date, keeping multiple wives based on mutual consents of all 3 parties (husband and wives) is possible. There have been multiple cases where the first wife would stay with the husband and the second wife for the sake of the children. On the other hand, there was no such rule for other religions, which paved the path for conversion- it is just too easy for a Hindu to become Muslim and marry 4 girls (due to Caste Disability Removing Act). Though it will reduce the power of Sharia laws, it has no meaning for Hindus.
3. Especially for Indian men, to be specific Hindu men, the UCC has no benefit at all. But they are supporting UCC only because of Modi-ji. While the society portrays toxic patriarchy, it fails to recognize that 52% Indian men face some type of violence (physical/sexual/emotional) in marriage, emotional violence being the most common (51%). Half of the marriages become sexless after a few years of marriage and in many cases, the wives manipulate the husband as if sex is a ‘reward’. As women say that their hormones make them emotional, similarly men’s hormones make them horny. If a woman wishes that a man will take care of her while she is emotional, it is also natural for a man to expect the same in return. Sex is the highest form of creative energy, but the Victorian laws and society has turned the concept of sex into something utterly dirty by brainwashing women that their chastity is not valuable. While women always play the role of a victim, still the suicide rate of men is much higher; in 2021, 72% suicide victims were men with compared to 27% women victims. No one talks about men being raped as if it is non-existent. The IPC-375 defines ‘rape’ as a criminal sexual act performed against (only) women by (only) men. So, it is always assumed that a rape victim will always be a woman and a rapist will always be a man. IPC-354 deals about harming the modesty of women by harassment, dis-robing and voyeurism. Here, a victim must be a woman as per the definition and the perpetrator must be a man. The IPC assumes that a man cannot have any modesty and also a woman can never harass another man or a woman. Sec 18 of Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act and Sec 125 of Criminal Procedure Code mandates a husband to give allowance to ex-wife. Now, let’s assume a scenario- in today’s India, girl education is promoted and girls perform better than boys in academics (check the pass rate in any exam). Due to gender-equality hype, girls are also more likely to get hired irrespective of skills. So, suppose a guy marries a working girl who is unable to perform the family duties of marital duties as society has brainwashed her to run after material achievements. The husband and wife earns equal but they are unhappy in the relationship so they decide to file divorce. But as per the laws, the guy must provide for the wife. This shows the pathetic condition of ‘equality’ in India. Sec 498 of IPC talks about domestic violence against women but in reality, men are much more victims of domestic violence which is proven by the aforementioned stats. Still, women play the victim card and ruin men’s lives. The Posh Act protects women against workplace harassment but there is no such laws for men. On the other hand, Hindu Marriage Act sections 24, 25 say that either parties can seek allowance based on financial condition- which is a truly gender neutral law.

So, in reality, UCC has no benefit for Hindus, especially Hindu men. Hindus are celebrating the UCC unnecessarily. Even if the bill passes from the court, many state governments will oppose it and apply for exemptions. As an example, in many North Eastern states, they follow a culture of keeping multiple partners. West Bengal may oppose the bill to appease the Muslim vote bank. Tamil Nadu may oppose it as well. So, the ‘uniformity’ of the UCC is hard to maintain. Instead we should divert our focus on some other laws that will help Hindus.

Criminal Law Bill 2019 – Here, the definition of ‘rape’ is amended and a more gender neutral focus is kept by saying the act can be done to any person by another person. This bill, if implemented, will help especially minor boy children in the country.

National Commission of Men – India has a national Commission of Women that has given women a platform to share their experiences regarding domestic violence, adultery etc. A true equality will come if a National Commission of Men is kept side by side so that men can at least have an equal opportunity to express their side of story.

Nullification of WAQF Act – This is an anti-Hindu law that gives Muslim Waqf board the power to claim any land they wish to have. Basically the law says if the board ‘thinks’ that a land belongs to them, they can claim that without any proof. This is basically a tool for land-jihaad. Waqf act should be banned.

Nullification of Places of worship act- Before 1947, many temples have been destroyed and mosques and churches have been built upon it. However, the opposite of this has not happened. The Places of Worship Act says that, as of 15/08/1947, wherever a temple/mosque/church remains, the land will belong to that institution. This act fails to address those hundreds of cases where temples were demolished in the past few hundred years.

Temples should be free from state government control – While Islamic institutions govern mosques and Christian entities govern churches, temples are governed by state governments instead of Hindu entities. This should change because in many cases, the government individuals are non-Hindus and do not know about the customs and rituals that should be followed. Moreover, in many cases, the government are accused of misusing the funds raised by temples to even act against the devotees of the temple.

The Hindu Code bill (by Ambedkar and Nehru) has harmed Hindu community because it paved the path of conversion by empowering the Islamic personal Laws. Plus, this bill has harmed Hindu wives because once the husband got converted, he deprived the wife of all his properties due to the Islamic personal laws.

More than any law, we need moral reformation where we need to teach ourselves and the children about their natural gender roles and the importance of responsibility.

Now, does this mean Hindus should oppose the bill? Actually , no, we should support it because it is at lease not an anti-Hindu bill like the existing laws. This law can help India to take one step towards Hindu rashtra and avoid becoming an Islamic state.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_code_bills#:~:text=The%20Hindu%20code%20bills%20were,implemented%20the%20reforms%20in%201950s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_code_bills#:~:text=The%20Hindu%20code%20bills%20were,implemented%20the%20reforms%20in%201950s.