New Delhi: Terming the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as a ‘significant bill’ which is the need of the hour, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan said it is aimed at empowering women.
The Uttarakhand assembly passed the UCC bill last month, and the President gave her assent on Wednesday.
Some of its provisions including the mandatory registration of live-in relationships have been criticised, with many stressing that it is an invasion of privacy and interference in personal matters of people.
Speaking to ThePrint, the assembly speaker defended the provisions of the act and said that there is a need for it at the national level, too.
Countering the argument that the vigilantes now have an “official” route to enter into people’s homes, Bhushan said the mandatory registration of live-in relationships is in fact for the “protection of the girl”.
“See, I again, believe it (registration of live-in) is a protection of the girl. I again believe this because most of the time, it is the woman which is, you know, left hanging. So I still believe for a young woman…it is a law which is coming for the young woman. Moreover, if you are an 18 year old or, and if you’ve decided to live-in with somebody, you’ve taken that decision. So if you’ve taken that decision, then you should have the gumption to accept it and tell the world about it, and be happy about it,” she said.
Bhushan cited ‘love jihad’ where young girls get married after religious conversion and are deserted later on. “There are a lot of things that are happening in smaller town societies which maybe do not come right up to Delhi. I know (cases of) love jihad where youngsters are turning and converting and then getting married and then leaving the girl high and dry.”
“I have realised one thing that we need to make our children aware and maybe this is a way of making them aware of what; how these situations can turn against them or how it can create problems. So I am looking at a young girl from a village, she doesn’t know what she’s getting into. So if she doesn’t know what she’s getting into, what she’s getting fooled into and then she’s getting into relationships which she doesn’t realise what she’s getting into. So I think this act is more for those youngsters who really do not know what they are getting into. And if you know what you’re getting into, then own it up,” she added.
According to the new act, it is “obligatory for partners to a live-in relationship within the state, whether they are residents of Uttarakhand or not, to submit a statement of live-in relationship (sic)” to the local registrar.
Among other things, it provides for maintenance “if a woman gets deserted by her live-in partner”, to be pursued through courts. It also states that any child born out of a live-in relationship should be considered a legitimate child of the couple.
The act also seeks to empower the registrar to refuse registration if one of the parties was already in another live-in relationship or marriage, or consent was obtained by force, fraud among others.
“UCC is a significant bill. We want to empower our women; we want to give them the rightful position that is theirs. Whatever the religion, whether you’re a middle class woman or you’re rich class, upper class, the weakest link in the society is the woman. If there is a divorce, she has to face the brunt. If there are proper property rights, which are not given to her, it is she who faces the brunt. So Uttarakhand UCC is aimed at tackling such issues,” she told ThePrint.
Questioning the Opposition which has criticised some of the provisions of the act and also targeted the Pushkar Singh Dhami government for not involving all stakeholders in the consultation process, Bhushan said: “I believe that through UCC, we have tried to bring out an act, which will help the society develop in a better way in the future. We are looking at it in that sense and I believe that this is the need not only for Uttarakhand but the entire country.”
Everybody was taken on board during the consultation process and the committee that was tasked with drafting the Bill consulted various stakeholders for almost two years, she added.
When pointed out that several Muslim organisations feel that the community is being targeted through the UCC, Bhushan said the act is not against any particular religion or section of the society.
“Even in today’s 21st century, we have seen in towns and in villages if the husband passes away and if there is no child in the family, the property straight away, goes either to the brother in law or to the man in the household,” said Bhushan.
“Is that right? I don’t think so. So, if she’s been given property rights, I think she deserves it and she needs it and she should be given because it’s her. Secondly, there are certain religions which say that the minute you start menstruating, you attain puberty, you are ready to get married. Is that right in the 21st century? Are we still living in the dark ages?” she countered.
The goal is to educate girls and women so that they can decide their future and claim their rights, be it divorce or adoption, the Uttarakhand speaker said.
“Why is it that 50 percent of this country is treated in a different manner? And more to say if criminal laws are similar in this country for everybody, for all the castes, for all the religions, for all the whether it’s upper class, middle class, for all the classes, then why should the civil law not be the same? So, I think it’s a brave decision,” she said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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