Women’s groups in Goa have called for justice rather than uniformity in comments sent in response to the Law Commission of India’s call for views on the Uniform Civil Code.
The groups that consisted of several NGOs working for women’s welfare, have also expressed the fear that women in the state could stand to lose the positive provisions they have, such as equal rights to parental property, if the code is passed.
“We come from the location of a State that has near uniform family laws… There are also provisions in Goa’s family laws that are uniform in discrimination, there are also provisions that are uniform across religions but not substantially equal, and there are also provisions that may be different but can enable empowerment, given our realities. Therefore, we believe that the goalpost has to be justice for all stakeholders in the family, and for all communities, rather than uniformity,” the statement signed by six women’s collectives said.
“We are concerned that in the rush for a Uniform Civil Code, we in Goa may lose the positive provisions we have, like equal rights to parental property, as also the possibility of working towards reforms in each specific family law, including the family laws of Goa,” the groups said.
{{/usCountry}}“We are concerned that in the rush for a Uniform Civil Code, we in Goa may lose the positive provisions we have, like equal rights to parental property, as also the possibility of working towards reforms in each specific family law, including the family laws of Goa,” the groups said.
{{/usCountry}}The groups have sought that more time be given to deliberate, and give views on the UCC.
“A month’s time does not suffice to deliberate on complex matters covering a wide range of areas such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, succession, guardianship, adoption, marital property, inheritance, different forms of property, and other related matters such as gender just tenancy rights, gender-just comunidade (village communities as in Goa) holdings, community holdings, positions on conflict of laws, that has repercussions for us in Goa, for the whole country and for its diverse populations,” the groups said.
“The atmosphere has to be created for people to articulate the challenges they face in accessing the law or because of the law, which cannot easily happen within a rhetoric where laws of a section of society are cherry-picked for critique. This kind of attitude can only drive women and marginal stakeholders in the family to silence,” Adv Albertina Almeida, speaking on behalf of the groups, said.
UCC refers to a common set of laws that will subsume customary laws across faiths and tribes and govern issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and maintenance. In the Constitution, it is a part of the non-justiciable directive principles of state policy. In a 2018 consultation paper, the law commission said UCC was “neither necessary nor desirable at this stage”. Earlier this month, the law commission again sought views and suggestions on UCC from the public and recognised religious organisations. Moreover, some states such as Uttarakhand have set up panels to explore implementation of UCC.
The issue got a fresh fillip on June 27, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to BJP booth workers and made a strong case for UCC. “These days, people are being provoked by the UCC. You tell me, if there is one law for one person in a home, and another law for another person, can that house function?” Modi asked. As the crowd roared in denial, Modi said, “Then how can a country work with such a hypocritical system? We have to remember that even the Constitution of India talks of common rights.”
Dating back to the year 1867 when it was first enacted in Portugal before later in 1869 being extended to Portugal’s overseas provinces (that included Goa), the Goa Civil Code law has been praised for being more gender just than similar laws across the country including mandating compulsory registration of marriages before a civil authority, ensuring that the wife is an equal inheritor and is entitled to half of the couple’s “common assets” including those inherited by her husband in the case of a divorce and that the parents must compulsorily share at least half of the property with their children which must then be equally distributed among the children with daughters too entitled to a share on equal footing with their brothers.