Uniform Civil Code: A Step Towards Women Empowerment

Abstract

Women empowerment has now days become a buzzword. It is not an easy task to define this dynamic concept. What empowerment means differs from country to country depending on the cultural and social backgrounds. But one of the unique features of empowerment is to have a prestigious life, equal both to male and female. This dignified life is secured through Constitution of India, supreme law of the land. Part III of the Constitution provides with different aspects of equality and justice which are reflected through specific Articles. India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic and republic. India has no state sponsored religion but respects all the religions. Positive secularism is reflected in Part III of the Constitution of India and is made a specific Fundamental Right of Freedom to Religion. Articles 25 to 28 talk about Freedom of Religion. As per the Constitutional mandate, Articles 14, 15 and 21, which are referred as the golden triangle of the Constitution of India, provide equality rights to all the citizens of the country irrespective of caste, color, creed, sex, place of birth and so on. It is the duty of state to create such an environment that the citizens of the country may enjoy their Fundamental Rights. Positive secularism being one of the prestigious fundamental right requires a democratic policy of the state for its full attainment. Therefore, matters of pure religious concern must be dealt with personal laws. Today, all the religions in India have their own codified and uncodified personal laws which ensure a freedom of religion to all the sections of the society. But, undue dragging of pure civil matters within the domain of personal laws has created a big menace to the womanhood. Matters like marriage, divorce are dealt by the personal laws of every religion and are the main reason for discriminatory treatment to the women. The social evils and orthodoxies are reflected in the rules of marriage and divorce. The discrimination not only lies between the matrimonial customs for male and female of the same religion but also there is a general discrimination in enjoyment of equality rights between females of different religions and they are subjected to torture, harassment and all sorts of social impediments which makes their lives a hell and least worth living. For instance, talaq-e-biddat also known as talaq-e-mughallazah was such a bad custom among Mohammedans which caused violation of Article 14, 15, 19 and 21 of Muslim women. This was the reason why Supreme Court abrogated triple talaq. Therefore, it is necessary to make a balance between different fundamental rights. Positive secularism may not be stretched to such an extent so that it may interfere in enjoyment of other fundamental rights which are equally important. Therefore, it is high time to implement uniform civil code so that equilibrium may be maintained between freedom of religion and other fundamental rights. The matter which are pure religious in nature must be dealt by the respective personal laws of different religions giving due regard to positive secularism. But the matter which are pure civil in nature must be scrutinized out of these personal laws and uniformity should be maintained in their application for all the citizens. This positive step may prove to be a landmark in furtherance of gender equality and women empowerment.