In his 15 August address, the prime minister said his government would work towards changing India’s personal laws. He said, “After 75 years of a communal civil code, it is crucial to move towards a secular civil code. Once this shift takes place, it will eliminate religious discrimination and will bridge the gap felt by ordinary citizens.”

Personal laws govern marriage, divorce and inheritance in India. The BJP has had a curious relationship with this subject, from the very founding of the republic. Dr B.R. Ambedkar had proposed modest changes to Hindu personal law, especially on the question of inheritance by women. He identified the two dominant forms of traditional inheritance law and modified one of them to make inheritance fairer to women. This was not acceptable to the RSS’s political ideology.

In its 1951 manifesto, the Jana Sangh opposed the Hindu Code Bill, saying social reform should not be imposed from above but emerge from within society. In 1957, it said that such changes were not acceptable unless rooted in the ancient culture. ‘Riotous individualism’ would result. In its manifesto of 1958, the party wrote: ‘Joint family and indissoluble marriage have been the basis of Hindu society. Laws that alter this basis will ultimately lead to the disintegration of society. Jana Sangh will therefore repeal the Hindu Marriage and Hindu Succession Acts.’

Over time, as nuclear families........

© National Herald