The Law Commission of India last month invited individuals, civil society organisations (CsOs), and religious outfits to submit their views on the Uniform Civil Code proposed to be enacted by the Centre as promised in the ruling party’s election manifesto. The Prime Minister too has spoken on the desirability of such a code in keeping with the Directive Principles of State Policy, even as the government of Uttarakhand appears well on its way to introducing a draft UCC at the state level as the process of consultations and inviting suggestions is complete. While many faith-based organisations, in the main but not limited to minority religious bodies, have expressed their reservations, their arguments are entirely bogus in a secular country.

Even the argument of last resort, that a uniform civil code should not be “rushed through” as it may lead to “social strife” in the country has been exposed for exactly what it is ~ both a delaying tactic given it has been 73 years since establishment of the Indian Republic, and a notso-veiled threat to the sovereign right of Parliament to pass legislation based on a Constitutional mandate.

The Centre would do well to treat these threats with the contempt they deserve. Now, a new angle is being sought to be given to the debate to stymie the UCC. To wit, it’s not just the minority communities’ clergy-dominated religious organisations which are opposing the move, but many tribal communities are against it. It is indeed true that some tribal groups and the governments of a few Northeastern states have objected to the UCC. According to Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, “The UCC will encroach on our customary laws and practices.” A neighbouring state lawmaker from the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) said: “In Mizoram, implementing a Uniform Civil Code will be difficult and could potentially lead to instability.”

In Sikkim, meanwhile, an influential CSO, Joint Action Council (JAC), has issued a statement that the UCC is “not necessary, nor desirable” in the state. There are other public statements from various Naga, Khasi, and other tribes on the same lines.

The context is that many tribes and even sub-tribes have their own distinct customary practices in civil matters including inheritance, maintenance, divorce, marriage, and the like, which they feel must be sacrosanct. That’s a slippery slope. No exception must be made, as some are arguing, for tribal communities to be kept out of the UCC; except in cases where tribes follow a matrilineal system wherein the daughters are the custodians of all properties and males are not entitled to inherit any immovable assets such as land and properties. These traditions as applicable must be protected in the proposed UCC. For, both the fundamental principle and overriding logic of the UCC is one of gender justice. If that approach is jettisoned in the face of religious, caste, ethnic, or class opposition, the government might as well scrap the proposal and revert to the lost decades of chalta hai.