The ‘uniform civil code’ means unifying all personal laws that will apply to all citizens, irrespective of the community they belong to. In India, Hindus form the majority population, and other religions like Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, and Buddhists are given minority status.
The question that is asked is whether it is possible or practical to form a uniform or common code that will be acceptable to communities.
There is so much diversity in Hindu law itself that a uniform code seems impossible. e.g., Northern Indian Saptapadi marriages are complete after seven rounds around the sacred fire. The south allows suyamariyathai and seerthiruththa marriages.
On the other hand, Muslims in India are governed by Islamic personal laws. Similarly, Christians in India are governed by their own personal laws.
The government should adopt a process of consulting various stakeholders to come up with a common code. A draft should be put in the public domain for discussion.
Our panchayats at grass-roots levels continue to give judgements that are against our constitution. Human rights are violated through honour killings and female foeticide.
Why a Uniform Civil Code In India? Every religion should accept a national civil code that can solve many problems for the nation (according to human rights, not according to the majority or minority religion).
If all religions are covered under the same laws, politicians will have less to offer certain minorities in exchange for their votes.
Uniform Civil Code: The need for it has been underlined even in the Constitution of India under Article 44 as a directive principle.
Controversy: The Shah Bano case was a controversial lawsuit where a divorcee, Shah Bano, even after winning the case in the apex court of India, was denied alimony because the Indian parliament reversed the judgement.