The Many Lives of the Uniform Civil Code: Muslim Engagements with Law in India

Shyamolie Singh

 

Abstract: This article critically traces the life, presence and trajectory of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the Muslim imagination in contemporary India. Over a long period, the UCC has been invoked to fulfil political agendas and both short-term and long-term gains, especially in the broader contexts of the rise of Hindu majoritarianism in India. The UCC has come to represent punishment-as-solution for the existence of Muslim personal law, which is seen as a product of rigid Islamic orthodoxy, gender un-just and regressive in the popular imagination. Tracing the growth of these debates, especially in the context of Mohd. Ahmad Khan v Shah Bano Begum and Ors [1985], this article posits a different reading of how personal law is conceptualised in the Muslim imagination, beyond binaries of orthodoxy and progressiveness, to argue that the UCC has been ‘summoned’ from time to time to fulfil its required duties of disciplining the Muslim community in India, but has, due to its frequent re-appearances, become a familiar foe to be dealt with in the court-rooms and through legal advocacy.