That is a good point. I could not have been able to explain it better.

Yes. We. Can.

Let me try to explain…

Is it easier to say A=B or

A=C; C>D; FA; A=K

This is what the current law does.

Now we dont want confusion so…
Is it easier to say Man = Woman no matter what the cast/religion/region/culture is or is it easy to say:

In Hinduism – man = woman
In Christianity – man = woman
In Islam – man = woman
In Jainism – man = woman
In Buddhism – man – woman

Why are we bend on dividing the country on cultural lines, on religious lines….

Talking about practical solution – yes it is not that easy to implement as too many people have vested interest. Just imagine what will happen if tomorrow we change the constitution to say man=woman? well yes the religion and its leaders will no longer have any say in the what happens in the religion – so of course they will cause all the trouble they can…

Just think if tomorrow you dont need to follow any kind of religious law’s to get married/divorced/inheritance…basically the religion will loose its power over you – and loosing the power to control almost a billion people is just too hard for any one to digest!

About this divide and rule policy of most of our politicians…I hope you have heard of the Lion and Buffaloes story! The politicians/religion/culture/cast is keeping us divided … so that they can feed on us one by one.

If India can achieve so much in the past 60 years of independence – just think how much more India could have done as a country?

I agree. It is easier to bring in a single uniform code.

Let me ask you my friends, what exactly is impractical about it?

1. Is it about not being able to pass the legislation ?

2. Or is it about composing that legislation?

To pass the legislation, all we need is some political strong will by a few leaders. On the other hand, if we are talking about the next government, if BJP is going to be leading that, there is no way you cannot do it. They had the chance, they just passed it. It can be done. So there is no question there.

If it is about coming up with an acceptable legislation, do we not have enough legal minds in this country that can write simple sentences, collaborate and word a bill that can deal with all these. Come on, all it takes is the same or even less effort that one takes in reforming these antiquated laws. I can help, if someone needs it.

Or my friends, are you not sold to the idea that all the people in a country can have the same sets of laws? Why is that some religious laws dictate the legality of the nation? Separation of state and religion was called for since the inception of this country.

Give me one good reason why inheritance laws have to be different for different religions? How it helps the people of the nation, this differences in the law that rules their life?

Tell me one good reason why the adoption laws have to be different for different religions. Any advantage ?

Give me one good reason why there should be a difference in maintenance of a divorced couple between religions? Should a divorced woman from a Muslim community be supported the same way as a similar woman from a Hindu or Christian community? What is the reason why any one of these women has to be supported less?

If there is no reason and if you want to reform the individual laws to give the same maintenance support to all women, then why don’t we have a single law? What is the point of having multiple identical laws?

We are not talking about fox and the pelican here. We are talking about Homo Sapiens and the same soup can be served to every homo sapien.

It would be much easier to bring in a single uniform code, than making changes to all the different laws for different communities.

Which is easier, passing a single marriage law or changing 5 different laws for 5 different religions ?

All I am saying is that if gender bias is the main concern we can address that by bringing reforms in Muslim personal laws you don’t need UCC for that. I repeat in simpler words, what I already said by a Hanuman metaphor, UCC is too big a cure for a very small problem. You don’t need the entire mountain you only need a leaf.

Just make changes in the biased laws and implement them. Just the way Hindu laws are reformed. It is not so difficult, certainly not as difficult as making and implementing UCC.

By demanding some thing that is not practical we are not doing any help to get rid of the bias anyway.

@Kenny
It’s not just about the religion. It’s not like all Hindus follow the same law and all Muslim follow another same law that is different from Hindu law. This point is already made by another commentator here. Hindus far away in Andamans and Lakshwadeep north east and the many tribes all over, each follow a different personal law.

So how is UCC going to be a sign of secularism?

Also being uniform is not being equal. You could serve the same soup in the same saucer to the fox and the pelican but would you call that equality?

The fact is that every aspect of the personal laws are filled with absurdities and discrimination that does not have a place in a modern society. We do not need some sets of laws that were first enacted in the 1800s.

Are you saying is that we do not have bright minds that can compose a common civil code that is acceptable for all. With all due respect to Dr. Ambedkar, we have many people of his caliber here at this time.

Or are you suggesting that such a universally accepted civil code cannot exist?

I do understand the existence of Special Marriage Act. But, this is exactly what is wrong that I meant when I said we have to keep doing what we have done in the past and somehow expect a different result.

What has the Special Marriage Act done to close the bias? It has been an stop-gap measure than a solution to the problem.

A special marriage act is not the solution, just because if two individuals of the same religion are getting married now, they are going to do it in their personal law anywhere and all the inequalities exist. It is not just about the inter-religious marriages, but I am talking about the millions of same-religion marriages where the system makes sure that the women get a raw deal.

Whether people are educated or not, we cannot have a legal system that discriminates. Based on anything. There are millions of uneducated/conservative people who still practice un-touchability and other atrocities. Is that legal? Did we educate about them first before legislating to make it illegal?

So why is that you do not care about these issues just because the main victims are women? This is the problem in this country. Regardless of the status quo, we should have the audacity to admit or agree that men and women are equal. And discrimination based on gender is as bad or worse than discrimination based on caste or anything.

All I have to say is to quote Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state of the United States. She said : “‘There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.”

I do understand the existence of Special Marriage Act. But, this is exactly what is wrong that I meant when I said we have to keep doing what we have done in the past and somehow expect a different result.

What has the Special Marriage Act done to close the bias? It has been an stop-gap measure than a solution to the problem.

A special marriage act is not the solution, just because if two individuals of the same religion are getting married now, they are going to do it in their personal law anywhere and all the inequalities exist. It is not just about the inter-religious marriages, but I am talking about the millions of same-religion marriages where the system makes sure that the women get a raw deal.

Whether people are educated or not, we cannot have a legal system that discriminates. Based on anything. There are millions of uneducated/conservative people who still practice un-touchability and other atrocities. Is that legal? Did we educate about them first before legislating to make it illegal?

So why is that you do not care about these issues just because the main victims are women? This is the problem in this country. Regardless of the status quo, we should have the audacity to admit or agree that men and women are equal. And discrimination based on gender is as bad or worse than discrimination based on caste or anything.

All I have to say is to quote Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state of the United States. She said : “‘There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.”

And yet, you agree that these individual laws does not address these issues. Then why don’t we reform everything? Yes, constitution calls for it, courts have been demanding it, and nothing stops the state from doing it. But why is it not done?

The fact is that every aspect of the personal laws are filled with absurdities and discrimination that does not have a place in a modern society. We do not need some sets of laws that were first enacted in the 1800s.

Are you saying is that we do not have bright minds that can compose a common civil code that is acceptable for all. With all due respect to Dr. Ambedkar, we have many people of his caliber here at this time.

Or are you suggesting that such a universally accepted civil code cannot exist?

This blog has an open comment policy. We do not delete anything unless its that bad. Infact I have only deleted a single comment so far… and that comment was from my mom.

Regarding UCC, above all arguments, I think its needed in our country as a statement of equality and secularism. We are a country torn apart by religion and I believe a conscious effort to unify will definitely help. It will be a warning to all religions “Religious laws are not above the laws of the state”.