Should India’s linguistic diversity too be given a short shrift, as has been happening for years in promoting Hindi in preference to 21 other scheduled languages?
Though we do not have, as pointed out in this Deccan Herald opinion article, a draft Bill or a white paper on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), there is a raging debate, as well as fear in many quarters, as to the intention of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as expressed in the pronouncements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi concerning the UCC.
Quite forthrightly, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen used decidedly strong words when he said, “I saw in the papers today that there should not be any further delay in implementation of Uniform Civil Code. Where did such a stupid thing come from? We have been without UCC for thousands of years and can also be without it in future”. Further, he asserted, “Hindu Rastra cannot be the only way in which the country can progress and one should look at these questions with a broader outlook. Certainly, there is an attempt to use… misuse the Hindu religion”.
Read More
