Sami Ahmad
NEW DELHI—The Committee of Experts formed by the Uttarakhand BJP government to draft the Uniform Civil Code has asked for suggestions from stakeholders and people belonging to various organizations in the state. (Uttarakhand will be second state after Goa to have a UCC if the experts come out with a UCC acceptable to all religous communities and denominations and it is also ratified by President of India. At present, Goa is the only state in the country to have a UCC. The UCC is continuing in Goa since the coastal state was under the Portuguese rule.)
The representations must be submitted before the committee on or before October 7, 2022.
The suggestions and representations have been demanded from people belonging to the state. They include government agencies, non-government organizations, social groups and communities, religious bodies and political parties.
The government notified the five-member committee on May 27 this year. Former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai heads the committee. The committee members are Justice (Retired) Permod Kohli, IAS (Retired) Shatrughna Singh, Social Activist Manu Gaur, and Prof. Surekha Dangwal (V.C., Doon University). Mr. Ajay Mishra, an additional commissioner, is the member secretary.
The committee, however, has no representation from the Muslim community forming about 14 percent (14.07 lakhs) of the state’s total population. This is a matter of concern for the Muslim community. They feel that the committee may not protect its interest in the absence of a Muslim representative on the committee.
Apart from Muslims, there is a growing concern about tribal practices, although the committee has assured to consider the laws and traditions of tribal society.
The first meeting of this committee was held in Delhi. On Thursday, the committee held its fifth meeting and issued an appeal for suggestions.
Muslim organizations question the decision of the state government as they think that UCC means the majoritarian composition and imposition of law that would violate Muslim Personal Law in marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption. In addition, no Muslim member on the committee also creates a sense of disregard for the views of the minority community.
According to Populationu.com, there are 14.07 lakhs Muslims in Uttarakhand as per the census of 2011. There are 2,36,340 Sikhs and 37,781 Christians in the state. Buddhists and Jains are more than 25 thousand in the state.
Uttrakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the BJP had made the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code a poll promise in the Assembly elections of the state held in February this year. Dhami is reported to have said that once the committee submits its report, his government will start to implement that, which may take six months.
Experts say Uttarakhand would be the second state/union territory to implement the UCC after Goa. The official communication says that this committee was formed “to examine the relevant laws regulating personal civil matters of residents of Uttarakhand and to prepare draft law/laws or suggest changes in existing laws on the subject that includes marriage, divorce, property rights, succession/inheritance, adoption, maintenance, custody and guardianship.”
It added, “To this end, the committee has also been tasked to prepare a report on implementing a Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand. Therefore, the committee has made this appeal to fully appreciate the relevant issues having a bearing on this important subject.
There is a requirement for documentary proof of an individual’s residence or the organization’s location in Uttarakhand, such as a copy of the Aadhaar Card with the address and mobile numbers of individuals or the organization’s office bearers to send the suggestions. These can be sent in text, pdf or image format. There are three modes to send suggestions. First, one can upload these suggestions on the government’s website https://www.ucc.uk.gov.in. These can also be sent by e-mail for which the id is: [email protected].
The suggestions in hard copy can be sent to:
Office of UCC’s Expert Committee,
State Guest House (Annexe),
Adjoining Raj Bhavan, Dehradun,
248001.
Earlier, The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) had criticized the BJP-ruled Uttarakhand’s decision to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state.
“This is an alarming deviation from the current system, which has different laws for different faiths, including the Hindu Marriage Act, Indian Christian Marriages Act, and the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act,” IAMC said. It had said that Muslim personal laws are based on religious texts and are not codified.
Congress leader and former chief minister Harish Rawat, too, has raised his questions about this move. He said that Uttarakhand has a large tribal population that has its own traditions of marriage and divorce. He termed this move an effort to divert the people’s attention from real issues of the state.
