Social Reform, National Unity, and the Rights of the Minorities: Revisiting the Debates on Uniform Civil Code in the Constituent Assembly

Abstract

In recent years, the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has resurfaced in Indian politics. The Law
Commission of India has sought fresh opinions on the matter from the public. Several state governments
have already initiated legislative efforts to bring a UCC into their territory. The promise of UCC has also
been a key electoral agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with its leaders upholding it on numerous
occasions in their public meetings. However, it is not a new phenomenon; UCC has been a site of enraged
political debates since the very birth of the republic. One of the earliest traces of these debates can be found
in the discussions of the Constituent Assembly, where leaders from various political, religious, and social
backgrounds voiced their concerns regarding the issue. In this paper, we revisit those debates to situate
and understand the contemporary efforts to legislate a UCC in the country.