Rajasthan is set to table the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill in the state assembly, becoming the latest BJP-ruled state to attempt bringing big-ticket changes to laws that govern marriages, divorces, inheritance and other such civil matters.
The Bhajan Lal government’s decision to keep tribal communities outside the ambit of the civil code law has triggered a new debate, especially in south Rajasthan.
The Bhajan Lal government’s decision to keep tribal communities outside the ambit of the civil code law has triggered a new debate, especially in south Rajasthan. Lok Sabha MP from Udaipur, Manna Lal Rawat, had written to the chief minister in July asking that tribals be exempted from the UCC in Rajasthan. However, the MP from Udaipur did not seek exemption for tribals who have converted to Christianity or any other religion. “The reason for keeping tribal communities outside the UCC is that tribal people are an integral part of the larger Hindu society, and they also live largely in rural areas. But their customary practices are very important. There are three main issues: matters related to marriage, matters related to divorce, matters related to inheritance, and the resolution of disputes among communities. The Bhartiya Adivasi Party alleges that even while keeping tribal communities outside the UCC, the government is sowing divisions within the tribals. “The tribal community will be kept outside the UCC, but a controversy is being created in Rajasthan. Political polarisation is taking place. Tribal people who have identified themselves as Hindu in Rajasthan’s official records will be kept outside the UCC, but those who follow nature worship, worship their ancestors, and have Aadi Dharma recorded as their religion could be brought under the UCC. The tribal community is simple and innocent. We want the community to preserve its ancestral system. They are trying to create a division within the tribal community. BJP leaders call themselves ‘Vanvasi’, but we want to preserve our ancestral system. Our Aadi Dharma should be recognised. This is a new trend with the UCC. The rights of the tribal community are being taken away. Hence, for the BJP and Congress, the challenge is to bring this emerging tribal politics into their political calculations and the UCC Bill.
Because of these customary practices, the issue of keeping tribal communities outside the law has arisen,” Rawat said. Article 13 of the Constitution recognises customary practices, and this should be given due consideration in the UCC as well.
We say that tribal people do not have a religion in the conventional sense; they have their own system of worship,” said Banswara MP Rajkumar Roat.
