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By:

Akhilesh Sinha

25 June 2025 at 2:53:54 pm

Cultural identity begins once again

AI generated image New Delhi: The Assam government's decision to introduce the UCC Bill in the state assembly on Monday marks a significant shift in the political landscape. After Uttarakhand and Gujarat, Assam has become the third BJP-ruled state to move decisively toward giving legal shape to the Uniform Civil Code. Indications also suggest that the issue may soon emerge at the center of political discourse in West Bengal. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Atul Bora introduced the "Assam...

Cultural identity begins once again

AI generated image New Delhi: The Assam government's decision to introduce the UCC Bill in the state assembly on Monday marks a significant shift in the political landscape. After Uttarakhand and Gujarat, Assam has become the third BJP-ruled state to move decisively toward giving legal shape to the Uniform Civil Code. Indications also suggest that the issue may soon emerge at the center of political discourse in West Bengal. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Atul Bora introduced the "Assam Uniform Civil Code Bill, 2026" in the Assembly. The proposed legislation extends far beyond issues of marriage and divorce, touching several sensitive aspects of the social structure. According to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the law seeks to regulate five major areas, a ban on polygamy, a uniform minimum age for marriage, compulsory registration of marriages and divorces, equal inheritance rights for daughters in ancestral property, and mandatory registration of live-in relationships. The government argues that the legislation is aimed at providing legal protection to women and eliminating entrenched social evils. The most striking aspect of the Assam model, however, is its "exception clause." Scheduled Tribes have been kept outside the ambit of the proposed law, whether they reside in the hills or the plains. Traditional religious customs and rituals have also been exempted. This reflects the government's attempt to balance the message of equality with the ethnic and cultural sensitivities of the Northeast. Indeed, this remains one of the core challenges of Indian federalism that maintaining harmony between uniformity and diversity. The opposition has sharply criticised the Bill both inside and outside the Assembly from the very beginning of the session. While the ruling party claims that introducing the UCC fulfills one of its key electoral promises, opposition parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, and Raijor Dal have questioned both the timing of the legislation and its potential social consequences. Assam Congress working president Zakir Hussain Sikdar described the move as the BJP's "political agenda" and asked what tangible benefit it would bring to ordinary citizens. The opposition has also alleged that there was no broad-based social or political consultation before introducing the Bill. Roots of Idea Yet, the idea of a Uniform Civil Code is far from new. Article 44 of the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Indian Constitution directs the State to endeavour to secure a common civil code for all citizens. The roots of this idea can be traced back to the colonial era. In 1835, the British government proposed the concept of a uniform law, though personal religious laws were kept outside its scope. Goa, through the Portuguese Civil Code, has long had a form of common civil law in place. However, in independent India, Uttarakhand became the first state to take a concrete step in this direction. The UCC Bill was introduced in the Uttarakhand Assembly in February 2024 and implemented in January 2025 after receiving presidential assent. The Uttarakhand model granted equal property rights to sons and daughters and made registration of live-in relationships mandatory, while exempting Scheduled Tribes. Gujarat, too, passed a UCC Bill this year, with a particular emphasis on inheritance laws. Under the proposed framework, if a person dies intestate, parents, children, and spouses would receive equal shares in the property. Highlighted Need The judiciary, too, has repeatedly underscored the need for a Uniform Civil Code. In the landmark Shah Bano case, the Supreme Court observed that Article 44 had remained "a dead letter" and stated that a common civil code could strengthen national integration. In the Sarla Mudgal judgment as well, the Court expressed disappointment over the failure to implement the UCC. Again in 2015, the Supreme Court reiterated the need to uphold the spirit of Article 44 by moving toward a common civil framework for the entire country. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was among the strongest advocates of a Uniform Civil Code. During the Constituent Assembly debates, he argued that such a law would apply equally to people of all religions and would have nothing to do with religious practices themselves. He believed that ensuring equality in matters of family, marriage, inheritance, and civil rights was the duty of the State, so that individual rights would not be compromised in the name of community traditions.

'Players are made of steel, outside noise doesn't affect'

Updated: Jan 6, 2025

Rohit Sharma

Sydney: Rohit Sharma is still wired to the team despite opting to stand down, as the senior batter exhorted his India teammates to shut down outside noises and rumours to focus on winning the ongoing fifth Test against Australia that will help them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.


India came to the Sydney Test, trailing 1-2 in the series and their position was made even more precarious by the swirling gossips around Rohit's possible retirement.


"It (rumours) doesn't affect us because the players here are made of steel. We have tried our best to make players like this. See, we can't control certain things, and we don't want to fret about those things. We don't want to waste time on it," Rohit told Star Sports.


"Let it happen (the leaks). What can we do about it? Just focus on winning the match and getting better in our game, that's what we want to do.

"Everyone wants to go there and win the match. Look at the crowd here, look at their involvement. We all want to shut them (rumours) down. Tell me, which other team has won series here twice? We have the golden opportunity to.. not win the series, but can draw it now. We want to retain the trophy."


I've come here to play, not sit outside

However, Rohit admitted that the decision to stand down from the New Year Test was tough from a personal level.

"Sometimes, it is very tough. I have come so far here to play. I have not come to wait outside. I want to play. I have to win. When I came to the dressing room on the first day in 2007, I have always said that I have to win the match. The team has to win the match," he said.


For Rohit, the decision was a part of his trait that always placed the team first.


"Sometimes you have to understand what the team needs. If you don't keep the team ahead, then it is of no use. if you play for yourself, make your own runs, what will that do? If you don't think about the team, you don't want those kind of players. Eleven people are playing, so, it is a team. Whatever the team's need is, try to do that.


"This is my personal thinking. That is how I have played my cricket. That is how I am in life in general. It is not that I am trying to show something else. What I am is visible. If someone doesn't like it, then forgive me. I do what I think is right. What is there to be afraid of?"


Won't doubt myself because of criticism

Rohit accepted that he will be criticised if a decision goes wrong but asserted that it will not force him to deviate from his methods.


"In leadership, you have to accept that you will not have good days all the time. Ideas and your mindset are the same. The captaincy that I was doing 5-6 months ago, it is same ideology and thought process. But sometimes, the result does not come," he said.


"I know that 140 crore people will judge us. That is what it is. I don't want to doubt myself. I know what I am doing is right. I don't want to change my methodology about captaincy.


"I can also be wrong. Yesterday, if I decided that I should have batted in Sydney but actually, I should have bowled. It can be wrong but it does not mean that your thinking is bad."


"I am there now, Bumrah is there, before that Virat was there and MS Dhoni was there. No one has got it in a plate. No one should get it like that. Let them work hard.

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