Code chronicle

The framers of the draft of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill passed by the Uttarakhand assembly on Wednesday deserve kudos for excluding the term ‘Muslim’ from the text running into 190 pages. This, despite the fact that the bill- the first one on UCC passed by any State assembly of the country- affects the Muslim community in particular as it proposes to usher in changes in the customary laws governing  marriage, divorce, maintenance, alimony, will, succession and adoption. It will be interesting to see how the biggest minority community of the Himalayan State, which constitutes about 15 per cent of its population, reacts to a progressive law such as UCC. However, the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has been hogging the media headlines while receiving adulation from the people across the country for walking the talk and showing courage in taking things from rhetoric to action on the contentious issue of immense religious-cultural ramifications.  Enthused by the positive response the UCC bill has elicited, the CMs of other BJP- ruled States can zealously emulate the example set up by Dhami and can start the process of implementing the UCC in their States as well. The people of Uttarakhand now hope that as he has done on the UCC, their CM will also set an equally sterling example by taking effective steps on corruption, land laws, good governance and improving health facilities in its remote and mountainous areas.   

Devotional session

The recent session of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha that was specially convened to discuss and pass the Uniform Civil Code appeared at times to be a religious congregation with the members shouting slogans of Jai Shri Ram and Jai Siya Ram. The treasury benches appeared completely immersed in the Bhakti for Lord Ram and veneration of the Sanatan Dharma during the two- day assembly session. The parliamentary affairs minister set the religious tone of the session by choosing to focus more on the Ram temple and historic consecration ceremony in Ayodhya in his speech rather than on the UCC. Though looking at a loss initially, the Congress camp soon plunged headlong into the devotional sloganeering contest, trying hard to outshout the saffron brigade’s Jai Sri Ram with cries of Jai Siya Ram which they claimed embodies the essence of gender equality the UCC professes. The session also saw some members giving sermons on Vedas, spirituality, traditional wisdom and their relevance in modern day science during the debate on civil codes. Initially taken aback by Congress paying them back in their own coin, the BJP leaders finally looked elated over their success in making the Congress camp desperately fall back on their all-conquering Ram line.   

ED effect 

The enforcement directorate raids on the premises of former minister Harak Singh Rawat and IFS officer Shushant Patnaik is expected to give a further push to the ongoing exodus of leaders from the Congress and other parties into the BJP. In recent times, many Congress leaders who stayed put in the grand old party for years have jumped the ship and leaped into the saffron bandwagon that is chugging now at full throttle in the Himalayan state. The BJP leadership in the small state which sends five MPs in the Lok Sabha is seriously working on a plan to sweep all the five seats with bigger margins than its candidates won in 2014 and 2019 parliamentary polls. The saffron camp now appears on a ruthless mission to devour the opposition and the innate fear of ED, CBI and IT in the minds of politicians is giving more traction to its plans.