Protests were held in Odisha by the people from tribal communities in the state against the Uniform Civil Code.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocated the idea of the Uniform Civil Code during a public meeting last week in Bhopal and since then several political bodies have reacted to it. A few Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have also spoken against it.
Recently Odisha saw a demonstration by the tribal communities or the Santhals of the state protesting against the new set of laws that might be implemented under the Uniform Civil Code.
President of India Droupadi Murmu belongs to the Santhal community of Odisha too.
What is the Uniform Civil Code?
The idea behind the Uniform Civil Code in India is to have a common set of laws for marriage, adoption, inheritance and divorce for all citizens irrespective of their religion and other distinctions. The laws would be the same for all to practice but this idea entails sensitive debate among the citizens because the core structure of India has been in its diversity.
An official draft from the government has not been proposed yet so the details of the implementation are not known to the public. But the idea has received criticism from several opposition parties and communities who think this destroys the uniqueness of each culture and community that reside in the country.
Administration on UCC
The Parliamentary chief and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi during a panel discussion on UCC said that the tribal areas in the Northeast mentioned in Sixth Schedule should be exempted from the implementation of UCC. Even the Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma expressed a couple of days earlier that the matrilineal society in his state and the customs followed by the people cannot be dismissed in order to follow the rules set by the Uniform Civil Code.
