Submitting a detailed 33-page response to the Law Commission on the contentious Uniform Civil Code, Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi trained his guns at the Narendra Modi government, calling the proposed UCC a political exercise before every election in a bid to deflect people’s attention from issues like poverty, unemployment, and Chinese intrusion in border areas. “Before every general election, the Modi government rakes up the Uniform Civil Code issue to vitiate the atmosphere. This is not a coincidence that exactly after 5 years again the Law Commission is undertaking this exercise, like clockwork around 5 to 6 months before the general elections,” Owaisi said, adding that the 22nd Law Commission’s proposal was a vague replica of the citations made by the 21st Law Commission and didn’t explicitly explain or define the tenets of the Uniform Civil Code.
The party said it has sent its response to the Law Commission in three parts along with the legal opinion presented by retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Gopala Gowda.
Arguing that unlike Hindu law, which operates on strict priestly and legislative interpretation, AIMIM in its response to the Law Commission said, “Islamic law along with Adivasi and Dalit social practises, are not uniform and thereby relies on context, cultural practises and social relations. Therefore codification of personal laws may not necessarily mean equal rights.
Even the Hindu Marriage Act recognises the Adivasi communities to continue practising their own customary laws, the party said.
“Similarly, even within Muslims, various groups and sub-groups such as Kutchi Memons, Mappila Muslims observe extremely varying practices which fall under the umbrella of the Sharia Law. None of these groups can be classified into a single monolith identity. The diversity of this country is too vast to be erased by a single legislation of Parliament,” AIMIM responded.
On marriage, polygamy, divorce, and succession
Calling Muslim personal laws “far more progressive than statutory laws like the Hindu Marriage Act”, Owaisi claimed that a marriage within the Islamic community conducted without consent from both sides is considered invalid as it violates personal laws. Similarly, Muslim law also respects the choice of both parties to dissolve their marriage without any prolonged trial.
On the issue of inheritance, which is often perceived to be discriminatory within Islam, AIMIM in its response argued that the distribution appears inequitable when viewed from the prism of minority bias, and also questioned the practise of dowry within Hindu families.
“Muslim laws gave property rights to women nearly 1440 years ago, at a time when women were treated as property elsewhere in the world. The share of the daughter being fixed at half of the share allocated to the son is not because the daughter is accorded a lower status, but she is also given mehr or dower from the husband’s side before marrying him. A woman has two sources of secondary wealth, one from her parents and other from her husband. Likewise a woman is also ensured of substantial maintenance and social security under the Sharia,” AIMIM said.
When questioned about polygamy, the Hyderabad MP argued that the practice was not restricted among Muslims, but also other religions.
“According to the National Family Health Survey’s 2019-2020 data, prevalence of polygamy was 1.9% among Muslims and 1.3% among Hindus, just 6 per cent difference. Unlike other religions, we don’t call a Muslim man’s second wife as his mistress. She is entitled to get maintenance, a separate house and other facilities equally. If the Supreme Court can legalise live-in relationships then why does the BJP government have issues with polygamy especially when the woman is taken care of,” Owaisi said.
The response submitted to the Law Commission by the AIMIM questioned if the UCC will not violate some provisions of the Constitution and if exceptions may be created for certain groups—then what shall be the basis of such exceptions? The party also asked whether UCC would not adversely impact the legal status of the Hindu Undivided Family Act.
On Uttarakhand’s UCC bid
Reacting to the Uttarakhand government’s decision to implement the UCC in the state, Owaisi argued that the matter falls under the Concurrent List and that it would require the President’s assent under Article 254 of the Constitution for the President’s approval, adding that the state government’s decision was not sustainable in law.
He also dared Prime Minister Modi to implement the Uniform Civil Code in the north-eastern states where each tribal community is governed by their own state of laws.
While Telangana’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi has spoken out against UCC, following Owaisi’s meeting with chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the Hyderabad MP has also expressed a desire of reaching out to Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in a bid to seek his support to protest against the issue. Owaisi also lashed out at the Congress for acting as a fence sitter and not taking up a concrete stand against the Centre.
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