Congress Opposes UCC: Why the Party Calls it Unnecessary and Divisive

The political discourse in India has intensified as the debate over the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) takes center stage. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long held the UCC as a core part of its political agenda and has recently accelerated its efforts to provide it with a legal framework. The BJP's strategy involves implementing the code at the state level, with several BJP-ruled states already announcing their intention to adopt it. However, the Indian National Congress has emerged as a staunch critic of this move, raising several fundamental objections to the implementation of a uniform code across the nation's diverse population.

The 21st Law Commission and the Necessity Argument

A primary reason for the Congress party's opposition is rooted in the recommendations of the 21st Law Commission of India. In 2018, the commission conducted an extensive study and concluded that a Uniform Civil Code was neither necessary nor desirable at that stage. Congress leaders frequently cite this specific recommendation to argue that the current push for the UCC lacks a sound legal and social basis. The commission had instead emphasized the need to identify and eliminate discriminatory practices within existing personal laws rather than attempting to enforce absolute uniformity across all religions and communities.

The 2024 Manifesto and Personal Law Reforms

In its 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto, referred to as the Nyay Patra, the Congress party clearly articulated its stance on personal laws. The party stated that it would encourage reforms within personal laws, but with a critical caveat: such reforms must be carried out with the active participation and explicit consent of the communities involved. The Congress maintains that the freedom of minorities to choose their own personal laws, language, food, and attire must be protected. The party has also pledged to remove any laws that result in undue interference in the personal liberty of citizens, suggesting that a forced UCC would contradict these principles.

Allegations of Political Polarization

Senior Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan has voiced strong criticism against the BJP, suggesting that the UCC is being used as a political tool or a jumla, while according to Khan, the ruling party is bringing up the UCC to distract the public from more pressing issues and to fuel the politics of polarization. The Congress party argues that the UCC shouldn't be used as a political weapon to keep the country in a state of permanent division. They believe that any movement toward the spirit of Article 44 of the Constitution must only happen after extensive national discussion and the achievement of a genuine, broad-based consensus.

Practicality and Cultural Diversity

The Congress party further argues that a Uniform Civil Code isn't practical for a country as diverse as India, while they point out that within every religion, there are numerous tribes, sub-sects, and communities, each possessing their own unique traditions, customs, and ancestral practices. Implementing a single, uniform code would fail to account for this intricate social fabric. The party has specifically criticized the UCC models proposed in states like Uttarakhand, describing them as poorly drafted and part of a divisive political agenda, while ultimately, the Congress party doesn't support a total UCC but favors internal reforms within personal laws, provided they're backed by community consent and wide-ranging agreement.