ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the most debated issue of the uniform civil code (UCC) against the background of Hindu—Muslim political contestations. It discusses questions related to some other personal laws, such as the customary laws of large tribal communities scattered in central and north-eastern India whose numbers are only next to those of Muslims. The chapter looks at the state of Hindu personal law in Muslim-majority Bangladesh and Pakistan. Situations in these countries are exactly the opposite of India; like mirror images, Hindu minorities are pitted against Muslim majorities. The chapter analyzes the UCC debate through the lenses of Indian politics, which is the crux of the matter. It concludes with argument that personal laws are going to stay into the foreseeable future by incorporating necessary reforms in them from time to time. The politics of personal law operates at two levels, at the intercommunity level, and at the intra-community level.
