News18 Mega Poll: Marriage, Divorce to Inheritance, Muslim Women Support Tenets of UCC | 7 Key Findings

A majority of Muslim women are in support of what experts say could be the major tenets of any Uniform Civil Code, according to the key findings of India’s biggest UCC survey conducted by the News18 Network.

Although the numbers in favour are slightly higher among the highly educated Muslim women (graduate+), the overall support, too, is high.

Without mentioning the UCC, 884 News18 reporters interviewed 8,035 Muslim women across 25 states and Union Territories in the country on the themes the UCC is likely to cover. The survey participants were Muslim women in the 18-65+ category.

The UCC, in effect, means one law which would be applicable to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, maintenance, among others. Muslim organisations reacted strongly to the Centre’s recent announcement that the Law Commission would hold UCC consultations afresh, with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) saying the “majoritarian morality” should not override religious freedom and rights of minority communities in the name of a code. News18 Network decided to check if its views are indeed shared by the wider community, especially women, who would be most affected if the status quo were to continue.

Here are the key findings:

1. 67.2% of all Muslim women surveyed agreed that there should be a common law for all Indians for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance. The responses were slightly higher at 68.4% for graduate+ respondents.
2. 76.5% of all Muslim women (graduate+ at 78.6%) disagree with polygamy and say that Muslim men should not have the right to marry four women.
3. The highest support from women is on the question of equal rights of succession and inheritance of property irrespective of gender — 82.3% overall; 85.7% graduate+.
4. 73.7% of all respondents agree that divorced couples should be allowed to remarry without any restriction.
5. Although there was agreement on the question of adoption, the percentage of Muslim women agreeing that adoption should be allowed regardless of religion was much lower than the other questions asked in the survey (overall: 64.9%; graduate+: 69.5%).
6. 69.3% of all respondents (73.1% graduate+) agree that all Indians who have attained the age of majority should be free to will away their property as they please.
7. There is very high support for raising the minimum age for marriage for both men and women to 21. 78.7% of all Muslim women supported increasing the minimum age and 82.4% of graduate+ women agreed.