'No one can touch tribals' culture': Amit Shah's UCC tweak shows BJP's dilemma with tribal autonomy

Yesterday, in a fiery speech, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had reinforced the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) commitment to enacting a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). But in that same speech, he made an important caveat: tribal communities, nationally, would remain exempt. This distinction reflects a careful approach by the BJP as it seeks to harmonize family laws while respecting the autonomy and customs of India's tribal populations. More than anything else, it also shows how much entrenched BJP has become that UCC, a core ideological promise, could also be tweaked to reflect social realities.

The BJP’s commitment to a UCC has roots in its ideological beginnings with the Jana Sangh, as it has long advocated for a unified legal framework, which it argues aligns with the principles of a secular state. 

However, ever since its stint in power under the first NDA term with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the PM, the BJP since then has tried to evolve from being an “upper caste party” to one increasingly appealing to tribal, backward, and Dalit communities. This shift became more pronounced with the advent of Narendra Modi as PM and Amit Shah as the chief strategist. In fact, in yesterday's speech, Shah categorically underscored that tribal identity will remain intact. “The identity and heritage of tribal communities will be preserved,” he had said.

The push to protect tribal customs from a UCC is not new. In July 2023, former BJP leader Sushil Modi, while chairing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law, and Justice, stated that the tribes of Northeast India should remain outside the UCC's jurisdiction. His remarks came during a Law Commission review of the potential implications of a UCC, where he emphasized the importance of honoring tribal autonomy in Northeast states.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju echoed this sentiment, specifically highlighting the cultural autonomy of Arunachal Pradesh. He noted, “If you have studied the Constitution and rules or you have seen provisions, you must know that UCC is not applicable in Tribal Scheduled Areas,” as he clarified to the media in July 2023, as reported by *The Indian Express*.

Similarly, S P Singh Baghel, a BJP minister, asserted that tribal customs would be safeguarded under the UCC framework. However, he criticized “appeasement politics” and emphasized the BJP's commitment to tribal representation, underscoring the party's historic nomination of a tribal woman as President of India. Baghel highlighted the constitutional protections for specific tribal areas under the Sixth Schedule, which requires ratification by respective state legislatures before implementing any central decision.

The constitutional architecture supporting tribal customs includes Article 371A, which provides special provisions for Nagaland. It explicitly states that any law affecting Naga customs, religious practices, or land ownership would only apply if the Nagaland Legislative Assembly approves. “No act of Parliament... shall apply to the State of Nagaland unless the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland by a resolution so decides,” the Article stipulates.

In states like Assam, where UCC has been a topic of political discourse, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma affirmed the state's intentions to pursue a UCC while explicitly protecting tribal interests. The UCC draft prepared for Uttarakhand, too, reflects this intention, indicating that while uniformity in family laws is the goal, tribal customs will remain undisturbed.

The BJP's vice-president in Meghalaya, Bernard Marak, emphasized that Scheduled Areas within the state would stay exempt from the UCC’s purview, a position that resonated across tribal leadership in the region. However, critics argue that the BJP’s approach to UCC focuses disproportionately on Muslim personal law rather than achieving comprehensive legal uniformity across all communities.

Addressing these critiques, a senior BJP leader from the Northeast region underscored the party’s rationale, explaining, “Gender reform is a major reason for the desirability of a UCC. But Meghalaya is matrilineal... We need to be certain where the objective of empowering women is served and where it isn’t.” This perspective acknowledges the nuanced gender dynamics within tribal societies, where empowerment is often deeply rooted in custom rather than court mandates.

The BJP’s UCC proposal thus represents a balance between achieving legal uniformity and respecting the unique cultural fabric of tribal societies across India. With such assurances, the BJP aims to uphold tribal heritage while advancing its vision of a more cohesive legal framework for other communities in the nation.