People's Democracy

AIDWA Opinion On Uniform Civil Code

On July 24, Brinda Karat, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s pronouncements on the issue of a uniform civil code.

THE Supreme Court recommendations to the government to implement a uniform civil code resurrects an issue that in the current political context has become an instrument to further the narrow agendas of a communal platform directed against the minority communities. Uniformity between laws is surely a goal that all societies must strive for, but if it becomes an imposition through coercion, as it will, then it will have disastrous effects on national integration. In fact, national integration would be best served if the courts would take the strongest action against those subverting the secular principles of our constitution. For women of all communities, the issue is not so much uniformity of laws but gender equality within laws. Personal laws of all communities without exception, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian or any other, include the most discriminatory clauses against women. But, instead of redressing these issues, women’s rights are becoming a pawn in the hands of fundamentalists of all communities, who block such reform.

The issue of personal law reform demands urgent attention and redressal. (INN)