What Moditva wants to achieve cannot be perhaps stopped even by PM Narendra Modi.
That's the message to Sickularists and the ecosystem on the Independence Day.
Biggest assault on Sickularism
"The Supreme Court has held discussions regarding the Uniform Civil Code again and again, it has given orders several times," PM Narendra Modi said in his 11th Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort.
Modi advocates for Uniform Civil Code
: Says people see existing code as divisive, discriminatory, communal
He argued that the existing civil code is divisive, stating, "A large section of the country believes—and it is true—that the Civil Code that we are living with is actually a communal civil code in a way."
The Prime Minister said the people have lived with a communal civil code for 75 years now. He stressed the urgency of adopting a secular civil code to eliminate religious discrimination.
"I would say that it is the need of the hour that there be a Secular Civil Code in the country...only then would we be free of discrimination on the basis of religion," he said.
The Uniform Civil Code is a proposed set of laws intended to replace the diverse personal laws governing various communities in the country with a single set of laws applicable to all citizens, irrespective of their religion. The idea of UCC is to promote equality and non-discrimination by ensuring that all citizens are governed by the same set of laws in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) had in 2024 polls promised to replace existing religion-based civil codes with a common law to govern marriage, adoption, divorce and inheritance norms for all Indians.
The party’s manifesto for the ongoing general election proclaims its belief that “there cannot be gender equality till such time India adopts a Uniform Civil Code [UCC], which protects the rights of all women.”
The saffron party and the Modi government seems to have cleverly linked the strategic poll move with women’s rights, promising that the new law will “draw upon the best traditions, harmonizing them with modern times.”
Many Muslim leaders see the UCC as interference with centuries-old Islamic practices, including polygamy and instant divorce.
Some others consider a common code as “a violation of the fundamental right of religious freedom" as guaranteed in the Indian Constitution.
Christians are also opposed to the UCC, with the Federation of Catholic Associations of the Archdiocese of Delhi stating that a “united” nation need not necessarily have “uniformity.”
“The UCC should not be brought in, especially when there are large public complaints against the government and the party in power [the BJP] about unduly influencing constitutional institutions for political gain,” federation president A C Micheal said.
It will not be appropriate and desirable to hurry through such a controversial issue, he told UCA News.
According to Christian social workers in the northeast, the rhetoric targeting the Muslim minority is one part of the story.
“Today, Muslims are on the receiving end; tomorrow, Christians will be targeted,” one of them said, echoing the common fear.
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