‘UNIFORM CIVIL CODE WILL ENSURE GENDER EQUALITY ACROSS COUNTRY’

A Uniform Civil Code refers to a single law applicable to all citizens of India in matters such as marriage, divorce, custody, adoption and inheritance.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Dushyant Kumar Gautam has said that Bhimrao Ambedkar wanted a Uniform Civil Code in the country and equal rights for women. Talking to mediapersons at the party headquarters on Tuesday, Gautam said: “Bhimrao Ambedkar did not want Article 370 in the country; instead he wanted a Uniform Civil Code and demanded equal rights for women. The Congress resented Ambedkar so much that he had to wait for a noncongress government to confer him the Bharat Ratna.” Last week, BJP national General Secretary in charge of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, C.T. Ravi said that the BJP was ready to introduce two laws for Uniform Civil Code and National Birth Control if people desired to have them.

These statements regarding the Uniform Civil Code come at a time when there is a demand in the country to implement the same laws for all religions. A Uniform Civil Code refers to a single law, applicable to all citizens of India in matters such as marriage, divorce, custody, adoption and inheritance. According to reports, this will replace the system of fragmented personal laws that currently govern interpersonal relationships within different religious communities.

Advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay told The Sunday Guardian that India, which is a secular country, needs a Uniform Civil Code to cover civil and human rights issues.

“In our country, even the