G N Devy writes: On Uniform Civil Code, intent matters
The idea needs governments that think beyond mere election victories. It needs political parties that think of diverse groups of people as the nation July 14, 2023
Some Adivasis ..follow the custom of asking the husband to move over to the wife’s place after marriage and the wife has the right to drive the man out any time during their married cohabitation if she decides to do so in consultation with the community. To me, this appears to be a custom much fairer than the custom of asking girls to go after marriage to dwell in families of men. Will a proposed UCC give fair consideration to the comparative merits of these two systems?
In some Indian communities, property is inherited by daughters, not by sons. Among the Khasis in Meghalaya, a woman is treated as the head of the family and she plays that role for all legal purposes. Will the UCC take into account such a wonderful practice? I have known some communities that consider the cattle folk in the house as members of the family. Among the Kinnaurs of Himachal Pradesh, the custom is for a woman to take up to five husbands.