Political resistance to social reforms: The case of uniform civil code in India

Abstract

Under the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Indian Constitution, Article 44 directs the State that “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India.” Apart from this, admissible comments have also been made from time to time by various courts of India. But the Uniform Civil Code demanded for India in the early years of Independence hasn’t implemented till date. The Parliament which passed the Hindu Code Bill in 1955-56 as a social reform in Hindu society, the same institution has not been able to implement the Uniform Civil Code till date. Everyone has their own questions and their own arguments on different perspectives of consensus and disagreement on the subject, which has turned it into more of a controversy than an attempt of social reform. In the guise of this controversy, the secular nature of the Indian state has not only questioned but has also been seen as selective secularism or pseudo-secularism.