by JustaLittleUnwell » Thu Oct 30, 2003 11:25 am
I think we are discussing other issues here. Coming to the common civil code, my views as a secular Indian:
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<br>The Indian constitution is agnostic towards religion, and is not against it. It ensures that people are free to practise their religious beliefs. So, as a Hindu, i\'m probably free to marry my cousin sister (as in, dad\'s sister\'s daughter or mom\'s brother\'s daughter), though in some other societies it maybe considered incestuous. Likewise, i\'m free to give special privileges to my first son like lighting my pyre after my death, greater status in the family etc. which may not be perfectly justifiable in a fair system. I\'m probably entitled to show greater respect to a cow, than I would to a fellow human being. These things are allowed since they happen within the confines of a household and are not harmful to the society at large, and religion happens to have a say in these matters. Now do we want the government to come and police the internals of our households? As long as no individual is harmed (like in the case of dowry violence) or shortchanged, people should have the right to manage their personal lives, and imposing a draconian \'Uniform Civil Code\' is an infringement into the private lives of people.
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<br>With regard to Muslim Personal Law, I believe there are issues relating to women\'s rights, which I guess our Muslim sisters are competent to address and take it up with their religious elders. Given this, we Hindus don\'t need to interfere with personal laws of other religions.
Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans - John Lennon