Suvendu Adhikari’s UCC push: Is this the change West Bengal needs?

What West Bengal needed was change, which came with the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) new government ruling the state for the first time. Before this, the Congress, Left Front and Trinamool Congress ruled West Bengal.

Within two months of coming to power, the saffron party has already announced several proposals, the latest in the pipeline being the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) which previous governments have not done.

There were two bills tabled in the West Bengal Assembly on Monday, alongside which CM Suvendu Adhikari mentioned the UCC being tabled in August—a promise made in the BJP election manifesto that may soon come to fruition.

In the Assembly, Adhikari had also announced the formation of a committee led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai along with five other members to work out the finer details of the UCC draft bill. Other members in the committee include a retired IAS officer, legal experts, educationists, and a social worker.

Four days after that, the West Bengal cabinet cleared the formation of the committee, though other names have not been disclosed. The panel has been given four weeks' time to scrutinise the bill and submit its recommendations.

Why has Justice Desai been chosen specifically to head the committee? Justice Desai has headed the UCC committees for Uttarakhand and Gujarat and leads similar panels in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

When it comes to West Bengal, the UCC is likely to be modelled on the Assam UCC—implemented in May this year—because the latter has similar demographics with immigrants from Bangladesh.

If West Bengal’s UCC draft is based on the Assam model, then what is the need to review a draft separately? West Bengal has a population of more than 10 crore with close to 27 per cent of Muslim minorities, while Assam’s population is more than 3 crore with around 34 per cent of Muslim minorities.

The size of the population and indigenous tribes will be factored in, as in the case of Assam—where the Kurmi tribe is exempt from the UCC—to preserve their customary laws. The committee will then have to get an estimate of ancient indigenous tribes to be kept out of the purview of the UCC.

The committee will get the views of individual citizens, NGOs, political parties, communities, and religious representatives.

Will all suggestions be factored in or will the committee be selective in their approach to include all views? The aspects covered in UCC include marriage, divorce, live-in relationships, polygamy, and uniform gender-neutral succession rights within the family, irrespective of religion.

What has been a touchy subject for some communities, soon becomes a reality. Is West Bengal ready for this reality and is this going to be one that is welcomed by all communities?