The Uttarakhand cabinet on Sunday passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill, paving the way for the state to become the first in India to have it. The Pushkar Singh Dhami government has convened a four-day special assembly session from Monday to table the legislation, sparking a heated debate across the state on the impact of the civil code.

“Today in the Cabinet meeting, we approved the proposal to incorporate the Uniform Civil Code legislation in the upcoming session of Parliament,” Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said after chairing the meeting at his official residence on Sunday.

The final draft of the UCC, consisting of four volumes and 740 pages, was recently submitted to Dhami by a five-member panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai.

Mixed reactions

Outside IIT-Roorkee, News18 spoke to city dwellers from all walks of life. While teachers like Tushar Arora termed the Dhami government’s move a “political ploy” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, students like Geetendra Saini believed it was a push Much needed initiative for women’s rights.

“sati prata It was also once legalized in the name of God but we realized how wrong it was to let a woman be burned on her husband’s pyre. Likewise, all the arguments raised to justify anti-women laws and personal law rules will also be recognized soon when the laws need to be repealed,” Saini said.

Pooja Nanda, a political activist and supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party, agrees. “As a woman I welcome this. It’s a great initiative for women across the community.”

Tushar Arora, who supports the Congress ideology, said: “This is an attempt to divide Hindus and Muslims. As per the Directive Principles of National Policy, the government could have empowered women without introducing UCC Equal rights. But ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, this is a political platform to divide the people.”

The proposed Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand is likely to invalidate personal laws dealing with polygamy, marriage, inheritance and adoption.

Muslim women can gain adoption rights. Polygamy may be criminalized and the age of marriage for girls may be fixed at 18 and 21 in various communities.

Reports suggest that Uttarakhand, which has more than 2% tribal population, can exclude scheduled tribes from the ambit of the UCC. AIMIM state president Nayyer Kazmi asked: “Why are tribals excluded? How about this uniform? Isn’t this a way of targeting Muslims and their personal laws?”

However, poet Afzal Mangalori rejected the proposed law as anti-Muslim. “There is no significant opposition to what is being proposed. We are awaiting the final text of the bill, but judging from media coverage of the proposed provisions, most are willing to keep an open mind.”

What about cohabiting couples?

According to sources, the five-member panel that drafted the bill recommended that cohabiting couples register themselves. The proposal crossed public lines and was unpopular because critics said it encouraged such relationships.

Liaqat Ali, a resident of Roorkee, said: “The proposal to register cohabiting couples is wrong. The government should abolish the system completely. Why are they giving it legal support?”

In Harki Pauri in Haridwar, Pandit Pawan Krishna Shastri agreed. “This law related to living at home is influenced by the West. We should stop this behavior instead of letting couples register themselves,” he said.

However, social worker Soni Ror disagrees. “Raja ki zimmedari hai praja ka dhayan rakhna. As times change, so must the law. Nowadays, live-in relationships are formed, but look what happened to Shradha Walkar. If cohabitation is registered, she may have already lived there. People should respect the law,” he said.