Mumbai: Personal laws violate article 14 of the constitution that promises equality rights to Indian citizens, while the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is meant to establish equality before law and equal protection of law, Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan said here on Friday while deliverating why and how of the UCC.
Khan stated that the personal laws have renders Indian courts incapable to do justice to women without considering their family background, their faith and their religion.
"Women don't have an equal opportunity of law in Indian courts. Law is different for them based on their faiths. That too is not codified," he said.
Even small changes in the legislations make a big difference for the society, Khan stated saying that the law criminalizing triple talaq has brought down the rate of divorce among the Muslim community by as much as 95 percent.
"Not just as many women got the justice, but many more children were saved from troubled childhood due to broken families," Khan said adding that when the Muslim community will look back at the present times after 40 years, they will hail Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the greatest saviour of the community.
Harmony and unity in diversity: Rock bed of Indian culture
Giving several examples and quoting extensively from the scripts Khan said that harmony and unity in diversity is the rock bed of Indian culture and hence the minorities need not to worry that measures like UCC will destroy their identity.
In the same context Khan also said that the Article 25 of Indian constitution that promises freedom of faith, is all about personal rights and not collective expression.
"Such a freedom can't stop government from carrying out any welfare programs," he said. He also questioned, why the issue of personal laws never propped up during Islamic rule in India? and added that the concept of personal law was brought in by Britishers only in 1937.
He also explained, quoting holi quran and its interpretations, how personal laws are interpreted with a bias against women.
