By Sushil Kutty
The question is being asked, “What did Prime Minister Narendra Modi mean by “Secular Civil Code” and is this secular civil code different from “Uniform Civil Code”; also, if the Secular Civil Code will not be a “Communal Civil Code”, does that mean the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand is “communal”? Finally, will Modi’s “Secular Civil Code” not be “uniform”?
Clearly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left everybody, even those with clarity of thought and articulate to boot, wondering if this isn’t one more of his Mohammed bin Tughlakisms? Will the “Secular Civil Code” turn out to be a dandy like ‘Demonetization’ with which he took the country and its denizens on a cashless royal ride?
Ten editions of Modi delivering gems from the ramparts of the Red Fort. This time, on India’s 78th Independence Day, Modi deployed “Civil Secular Code” to inform the country that he has many more surprises in store. There is no need to search for a context as Modi often operates without context.
It is another matter that people look for context in Modi’s announcements and utterances. For example, wait for Modi to twist and turn ‘One Nation-One Election’ into something else altogether, like he did with the Uniform Civil Code, which is what Article 44 talks about. And Modi, like the INDI-Alliance keeps saying, is prone to change provisions in the Constitution; now with the promise to replace talk of Uniform Civil Code with talk of “Secular Civil Code”.
The Constitution of India alludes to a Uniform Civil Code, which by definition is “secular”, which brings us to the question, “Why did Muslims who want Muslim personal law not take the train to Pakistan in 1947?” The new country of Pakistan was created to be exclusively Sharia-compliant, but India wasn’t. Pakistan was carved out of India. But India has never been free of Sharia.
“One India-Two Legal Systems” has dogged India all these years despite India getting one of the world’s most watertight and secular constitutions. On Saturday, August 17, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board rejected even the thought of the “Secular Civil Code”, stating, loud and clear, that Muslims wouldn’t give up Sharia law in a secular country. “We’ve Sharia, you’ve Samvidhan and never the twain shall meet!
So much for the Prime Minister of India’s writ. PMs of India have for most part of India’s post-independence history been heads of two nations, one Hindu and the other Muslim and no regrets! Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now slammed the allegedly patently “communal civil code” that Indians have been holding on to and has sought to implement a “Secular Civil Code.”
New seeds of discord? Nope. The children and grandchildren of Muslims who refused to take the train to Pakistan in 1947 are only fulfilling what their forefathers wanted when they decided to be Indian and not Pakistani. The only thing left is for the ‘Jizya tax’ to make a comeback!
The question remains: What did Prime Minister Narendra Modi mean by Secular Civil Code? How are current laws being followed “communal”? Did the Prime Minister regard the dual/multiple civil codes in play as “communal” and wanted all of them brought in line? PM Narendra Modi’s words: “The present civil code appears to be communal. India needs a secular civil code. It is the need of the hour to have a secular civil code and do away with (the) discriminatory communal civil code.”
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud was in the audience and Modi seemed to draw succour from the CJI’s presence: “Supreme Court has held discussions…again and again, and it has given orders several times.” But the Supreme Court discussed a potential Uniform Civil Code not about any Secular Civil Code. What Modi said was about a set of laws that are communal — and the need of the hour for a “Secular Civil Code…only then would we be free of the discrimination on the basis of religion…”
Modi-bhakts say it takes a fertile mind to conjure up Modi’s Secular Civil Code. And understand the fundamental difference between UCC and Secular Civil Code? The question is will the Secular Civil Code adhere to one law, one nation? If it isn’t uniform, it won’t. Does that mean Modi will incorporate elements of Sharia in his Secular Civil Code? In that case, what happens to “secular”?
As far as Modi and BJP, and the RSS, are concerned, Sharia alone has communal elements; the Constitution of India doesn’t have anything communal and neither does Hindu laws, in which case the Modi government will fiddle with Muslim personal laws and that will be the end of his “Secular Civil Code!” The BJP says the Prime Minister wants the civil code to be “people-friendly”, and as the country is secular, the civil code should also be “secular”. (IPA Service)
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