\Samvad

Shravana Adhik Amavasya Vik. Samvat 2080, Yugabda 5125 : 16 August, 2023: SM 5010 (For Private Circulation only)


1. FESTIVALS: RAKSHA BANDHAN 2. IT'S TIME FOR RISE OF BHARAT AND SANATAN DHARMA: DR. MOHAN BHAGWAT
3. THERE SHOULDN'T BE HATRED IN SOCIETY: DATTATREYA HOSABALE 4. RASHTRAPATI MURMU’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION
5. BHARAT CELEBRATED ITS 77TH INDEPENDENCE DAY 6. ‘VYASA BHARATHATHILE YUDHISHTTIRAN’ BOOK RELEASED
7. ‘REIMAGINING INDIA IN THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE 21’ST CENTURY’ BOOK RELEASED 8. RASHTRA SEVIKA SAMITI NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEET CONCLUDED
9. FIRST EAST AFRICA SSV CONDUCTED 10. HSS JAPAN BAL VARG
11. HSS JAPAN SEVIKA VARG 12. NORTHWEST SAMBHAG KISHORE NIVASI VARG
13. AUM SPIRITUAL CENTER SEWA 14. KARMA KITCHEN HOSTS COMMUNITY DINNERS AT UNIVERSITIES
15. BHARAT’S AYUSH VISA FOR TREATMENT 16. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN  &  FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Article: THE 1937 ACT DIVIDED INDIA. WILL UCC INTEGRATE IT?


1. FESTIVALS: RAKSHA BANDHAN: Raksha Bandhan, which literally means “the bond of protection, obligation, or care" is observed on Shravan Purnima (August 30 this year). This festival is also known as Rakhadi, Saloni and Shravani. In the state of West Bengal, this day is also called Jhulan Purnima. On this day. prayers and puja of Bhagwan Krishna and Radha are performed there. The fishermen in Maharashtra celebrate the festival of Raksha Bandhan/Rakhi Purnima along with Narali Purnima (coconut day festival).

On this day they offer prayers to Bhagwan Varuna, the Hindu Devata of sea, to invoke his blessings. In the regions of North Bharat, mostly Jammu, it is a common practice to fly kites on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. In Haryana, in addition to celebrating Raksha Bandhan, people observe the festival of Salono. In Nepal, Raksha Bandhan is referred to as Janai Purnima or Rishitarpani, and involves a sacred thread ceremony. It is observed by both Hindus and Buddhists of Nepal.  -GoTop


2. IT'S TIME FOR RISE OF BHARAT AND SANATAN DHARMA: DR. MOHAN BHAGWAT: On August 6, RSS Sarasanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat called on Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Shankaracharya Swami Shankara Vijayendra Saraswati and attended the Agnihotra sabha at Chet Singh Fort on the banks of the Ganga in Varanasi.

Speaking on the occasion he said that Vedic knowledge had to suffer a lot in the country, especially in North Bharat, due to continuous invasions and added that this is the time for the rise of Bharat as well as the Sanatan Dharma. He lauded the works of the followers of Agnihotra tradition and said that the followers and practitioners of Agnihotra have been working for the protection and conservation of the wisdom of Sanatan Dharma for ages. The Shankaracharya, who is in Varanasi to attend the 88-day Chaturmas rituals, said that there was a need to build a 'Divine Bharat'. He added that there was the need to protect and conserve temples and promote Dharma through religious institutions.

Earlier, the RSS chief went to the 'Vedic kund' where the priests were performing yajna. A few religious books were also released on the occasion.  -GoTop


3. THERE SHOULDN'T BE HATRED IN SOCIETY: DATTATREYA HOSABALE: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarakaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale said that though there might be ideological opposition and dissent, there should not be personal hatred while living in society. Hosabale was addressing a gathering during the inaugural ceremony of Dattaji Didolkar's birth centenary celebrations in Nagpur on August 6.

Dattaji was the founder member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Hosabale said that Dattaji maintained cordial relations and respected the views of others without compromising on his ideology.
Speaking on the occasion, Union minister Nitin Gadkari recalled his long association with Dattaji during his ABVP days.
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4. RASHTRAPATI MURMU’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION: Rashtrapati Droupadi Murmu addressed the nation on August 14, the eve of the 77th Independence Day. She expressed pleasure over the festive atmosphere on the eve of Independence Day and called on the citizens to move forward in a spirit of harmony and brotherhood to realize the dreams of Bharat's founding fathers. She said that we are not just individuals, but part of a great community of citizens of the world's largest democracy.

Apart from caste, creed, language and region, we have an identity as a citizen of Bharat. Rashtrapati Murmu said that she has observed a new confidence in the Bharat story. Bharat is playing a crucial role in promoting developmental and humanitarian goals around the world. She termed G20 Summit in Bharat as a unique opportunity to get global priorities in the right direction. She also said that the country has converted challenges into opportunities and registered impressive GDP growth. Rashtrapati Murmu said that the lunar mission is only a stepping stone for our future programs in space and called for urgent attention to climate change amid extreme weather-related events.
Rashtrapati Murmu remembered women freedom fighters and said that women icons like Sarojini Naidu, Ammu Swaminathan, Rama Devi, Aruna Asaf-Ali and Sucheta Kriplani have set inspiring ideals for all generations to serve the country and society with self-confidence. She urged everyone to take a pledge to fulfill our constitutional fundamental duty and make continuous efforts to move towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activities so that our country attains new heights of diligence and achievements while progressing continuously. She concluded by extending her greetings to everyone including the soldiers guarding the borders, the police providing internal security and to the members of the diaspora living in every part of the world.
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5. BHARAT CELEBRATED ITS 77TH INDEPENDENCE DAY: Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi hoisted the Tiranga at the Red Fort to mark Bharat’s 77th Independence Day. Upon his arrival at the Red Fort, PM Modi was received by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, and the three service chiefs. Around 1,800 people from different professions - nurses, sarpanchs of Vibrant Villages, teachers, farmers, and fishermen - were invited as special guests for the programme in line with the government's vision of ‘Jan Bhagidari’.

In his speech PM Modi said that Bharat has demography, democracy, and diversity and this Triveni has the potential to make every dream of Bharat come true. He added that the youth of not just the big cities, but the tier-2 cities are also creating an equal impact in the progress of the nation. PM Modi said that the country stands with Manipur and the path for solution in Manipur will be found through peace. The PM also said that Government and citizens are united with the same spirit of Nation First which will create the biggest impact. He said that Bharat has made all efforts to control inflation amidst the global inflation crisis and added that Bharat is working on renewable energy, green hydrogen, from deep sea exploration to the space sector. He also said that Bharat can proudly say that we have the maximum number of women pilots in civil aviation and women scientists are leading the Chandrayaan mission. PM Modi said that our national efforts should be aligned with the welfare of the world. Bharat has emerged as a Vishwa-Mitra (Friend of the World) during the pandemic. He added that the country is laying strong foundation of Vishva-Mangal (global welfare). The PM also said that Bharat has presented philosophies and the world is now connecting with Bharat over them.  -GoTop


6. ‘VYASA BHARATHATHILE YUDHISHTTIRAN’ BOOK RELEASED: ‘Vyasa Bharathathile Yudhishttiran’ (Yudhishttira in Vyasa Mahabharat), authored by Ranga Hari - senior RSS Pracharak and former Akhil Bharatiya Bauddhik Pramukh - and published by Kurukshethra Prakashan, was released on July 21 at Ottappalam, Palakkad district, Kerala. Releasing the book, Metroman E Sreedharan stated that Yudhishttira gave the message to uphold sathya and dharma and said that Ranga Hari has accomplished the mission of introducing the greatness of Mahabharata in the most appropriate style. Renowned Carnatic musician and playback singer Mannoor Rajakumaran Unni received the first copy of the book.

The author Ranga Hari said that Yudhishttira is the only character who is referred to in all 18 parvas of Mahabharata. He also said that the book endeavours to prevent society from getting misguided by the wrong notions being propagated against Mahabharat and the characters in it.
RSS Ottappalam Zilla Sanghchalak Adv Jayaram presided the event which was attended by RSS Sahsarkaryavah Dr Manmohan Vaidya.
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7. ‘REIMAGINING INDIA IN THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE 21’ST CENTURY’ BOOK RELEASED: RSS Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini Sadasya, eminent thinker and author Ram Madhav presided over the book launch ceremony of ‘Reimagining India in The Geopolitics of the 21’st Century’ at Bengaluru on July 30. Ram Madhav spoke about the various aspects of geopolitics, international affairs and the evolution of Bharat’s foreign policy since independence.

He highlighted how Bharat’s image and stature in the world has undergone a complete transformation ever since Narendra Modi took charge as the Pradhan Mantri in 2014. He said that the book is a reflection of the Young Bharat, who are confidently marching towards creating an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in the ‘Amritkal’ of our nation. He took pride in the fact that a strong and meticulous scholarship, combined with the revitalized self-confidence is seen throughout the book.
Subsequent to his address, editor of the book Dr. Nanda Kishor initiated a discussion on the topics in the book which was followed by a Q&A session.
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8. RASHTRA SEVIKA SAMITI NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEET CONCLUDED: The national executive and representative’s meeting of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti was held from July 21-23, at Reshimbagh, Nagpur. 370 representatives from 38 regions attended this meeting. As per the statistics collected during the meeting, Rashtra Sevika Samiti has presence in 784 districts with 484 daily, 3077 weekly and 519 monthly shakhas and milans. More than 1200 seva activities are undertaken by sevikas in various fields like education, health and others. More than 13000 sevikas attended the various Shiksha Vargs conducted at 188 places.

During the convention, the current situation, plans for expansion and ways to strengthen of the work were discussed and analysed. Serious concerns were expressed regarding the incidents of harassment, heinous atrocities, violence, and increasing crimes against women at various locations. Discussions were held on this issue, and action plans were made. A statement on women’s safety in Manipur was released during the meeting.
Addressing the volunteers at the closing session, Pramukh Sanchalika of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti Shantakka urged them to prepare workers for societal transformation by embracing the trio of Swaraj, Swadharma and Swadeshi.
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9. FIRST EAST AFRICA SSV CONDUCTED: The first Sangh Shiksha Varg (SSV) for East Africa was held from July 29 to August 5 at the Viraj International School, Mlolongo, Kenya. 80 shiksharthis including 62 swayamsevaks and 18 sevikas from four countries - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan – participated in the varg. There were 31 shiksharthis in Prathamik, 21 in Pravesh and 7 in Praveen Varg. The shareeriks in the morning and evening included niyudh, yashti, danda, sanchalan abhyas and other activities. Bauddhiks on sangh personalities, sangh history, shakha and sangh karya-paddhati and Hindu Dharma provided clarity to the shiksharthis.

The Samarop Programme on August 5 was attended by 120 invited guests. The shareerik demonstration included activities learnt in the varg. In his Samarop address, Jagan Mohan, pracharak for East and West Africa, said that the SSV was a process to develop dedicated, skillful and self-motivated karyakartas. He said that Hinduism is gaining acceptance in the world, but is also facing many challenges. He urged the shiksharthis to dedicate more time and adopt a sangh-centric lifestyle. The varg concluded with the Dikshant Programme in which the Vargadhikari Devendra Pathak, Sanghachalak of Tanzania, blessed the shiksharthis.  -GoTop


10. HSS JAPAN BAL VARG: 47 children in the age group of 5 to 15 years participated in the Bal Varg organized by Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS Japan at Higashi Ojima, Tokyo, on July 22. The varg provided an opportunity to get together, learn from peers and elders, and foster unity. The children were divided into two groups aged 5-10 and 11-15. The younger age group had an ice-breaking indoor games session followed by interactive stories about Bharat. The older group had an introductory session followed by on-the-spot-skit based on moral stories. Vishwa Vibhag Sah Samyojak Anil Vartak interacted with them in the second session.

Both the groups came together for the third session of outdoor sangh khels. The Bal Varg concluded with a joint prayer and Path Sanchalan.  -GoTop


11. HSS JAPAN SEVIKA VARG: The first ever Sevika Varg of HSS Japan was conducted on July 22 in the presence of Vishwa Vibhag Sah Samyojak Anil Vartak. 30 sevikas from different shakhas participated in the half-day varg held at Komatsugawa Park in Tokyo.

In the first session, Anil Vartak gave information on how Sangh started in Bharat and grew across the globe as Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh. He also addressed sevikas on their participation, involvement, and role in HSS.
Teams of three sevikas each, who did not know each other, were given a Sanskrit subhashit one week in advance. The sevikas had to learn the pronunciation, meaning and importance of the subhashit. In the second session, they presented the subhashits using various tools like PowerPoint presentation and skits.  Dr. Archana Pandey, doctorate in Sanskrit and a Hindi schoolteacher, was the chief guest and chaired the session. Khel, basic samata and sanchalan were practiced in the third session. The varg concluded with the Vishwa Prarthana.
Most of the sevikas were new and attended varg for the first time. Overall, it was a very fruitful varg which raised awareness, interest, and enthusiasm in sevikas.
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12. NORTHWEST SAMBHAG KISHORE NIVASI VARG: The Northwest Sambhag of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS USA conducted the Kishore Nivasi Varg on July 22-23 at Bellevue and Redmond, Seattle. 20 of the 24 registered kishores attended the varg. The event began at the Redmond Community Center with ice breakers, debates on the strengths and weaknesses of 2nd generation Hindu Americans and a charcha on why we do various practices as part of our culture. This was followed by a session of khel, niyuddha and shikshana vidhi for khel.

The kishores then split into two groups and went to two apartment complexes for sampark, reaching over 50 families in random door to door-sampark. A havan was also conducted during which 108 Gayatri Mantras were chanted. It was a new experience for most kishores.
On the second day, a demo shakha was planned to showcase shakha for all the families with whom sampark was done on the day before. Three new families joined for the shakha. Two karyakartas who had gone as vistaraks shared their experiences before the concluding bauddhik.
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13. AUM SPIRITUAL CENTER SEWA: On August 2, Pacific Southwest Sambhag of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh HSS USA participated in the Pran Pratishtha and 51 Kundi Havan event at Aum Spiritual Center, Hemet.

The Vice Chancellor of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya Dr. Chinmay Pandya and Shefali Pandya performed Gayatri Mata’s Pran Pratishtha at the Aum Center. The event started with a kalash yatra around the parking lot and main hall of the mandir while singing bhajans led by a devotee of the mandir. Dr Pandya explained in detail the knowledge and science of Yagya to the devotees.
8 kishores, 5 kishoris, 9 swayamsevaks, 8 sevikas, and 4 balas participated in the sewa activities which included pre-event arrangements and post-event cleanup.
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14. KARMA KITCHEN HOSTS COMMUNITY DINNERS AT UNIVERSITIES: Karma Kitchen is hosting dinner program for university students in New South Wales and Western Australia. The dinner gives karyakartas an opportunity to guide and support new students, both local and international. It was introduced to complement the Hindu Counsellors (Chaplaincy) program in universities. Currently, the community dinner is provided at the University of Western Sydney, South Campus every Tuesday. Karma Kitchen is planning to extend this to other Australian universities soon.
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15. BHARAT’S AYUSH VISA FOR TREATMENT: In a move aimed at promoting Bharat as a destination for medical value travel, the Union Home Ministry has officially notified the creation of a new visa category called ‘Ayush Visa’. This visa is specifically designed for individuals seeking treatment under Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) and other traditional Bharatiya systems of medicine.
The Ayush Ministry confirmed that appropriate amendments have been made to various chapters of the visa manual, ensuring a seamless and efficient process for applicants.
Union Minister of Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal, expressed his satisfaction with the creation of this new visa category, calling it a significant step towards boosting Medical Value Travel in Bharat. With the introduction of the Ayush Visa category, Bharat is poised to attract a broader spectrum of international visitors seeking holistic and alternative healthcare solutions.
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16. SHRI VISHWA NIKETAN: Pravas: Visitors:
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good. -Mahatma Buddha.
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JAI SHRI RAM
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THE 1937 ACT DIVIDED INDIA. WILL UCC INTEGRATE IT?
The BJP’s articulators’ understanding of the UCC doesn’t seem to go to the deep, sordid historical origins of the UCC.
S Gurumurthy

After the 1937 Act was passed, the Muslim League emerged as a Muslim mass party and began challenging the unchallenged Gandhi-led Congress, which had till then total mobilising power over the Indian masses. The 1937 Act triggered powerful forces of Islamic religious and communal passions outside the Congress's influence. As the British and the League had intended, the Act helped the massive shift of the Muslims from the Gandhi-led Congress. The shift was so huge and so swift that even the League, which had till then thought of a federal government for Hindus and Muslims with separation of powers, suddenly shifted gears and asked for partition. The 1937 Act was passed in October 1937 and within just two-and-a-half years, in March 1940, Jinnah passed the Lahore partition resolution.
Article 44 as reaction to the 1937 Act
The UCC will not be written on a clean slate, it will be overwritten on the 1937 Shariat Act. What divided the Hindu and Muslim relations by a jhatka and eventually India itself, was the 1937 Act. The partition could not bridge the divide, and the continuance of the 1937 Act post Independence continues to make the Hindu-Muslim relations drift towards a greater split. The UCC is an attempt to arrest that drift. The BJP’s response to the Congress charge that the UCC divides is, “Look at the Constitution, it says pass the UCC.” This is a poor response given the seriousness of the UCC to arrest the drift caused by the 1937 Act. The BJP’s articulators’ understanding of the UCC doesn’t seem to go to the deep, sordid historical origins of the UCC.
They do not seem to ask themselves the most obvious question — why did the Founding Fathers of the Constitution engage in strenuous discourse on the need for a Uniform Civil Code for India, which was after all within the legislative power of the Parliament? Had the 1937 Act not been passed and subsisted, the Constituent Assembly would not have wasted its time on the UCC. They could not allow a separate religious law, that too a law that divided India, to subsist. Any keen student of the history of the idea of the UCC in India would have known that the very thought of the UCC in the Constituent Assembly was clearly to undo the 1937 Shariat Act. The trigger for Article 44 mandating UCC under the Directive Principles was the 1937 Act, which divided India. The Founding Fathers did not want to leave it to the political discretion of the lawmakers later to pass or not to pass the UCC, but made it their constitutional duty. The BJP should be pointing to the 1937 Act as the cause that split India and that was why the Founding Fathers had to mandate the UCC as a stitch on the split. The BJP should be charging those who ruled the country for 70 years with having kept the split and wound open, which made Hindu-Muslim relations deteriorate instead of improve in secular India. If the BJP can’t tell the nation about the historical background of the UCC, which is the 1937 Act, why will the detractors of the UCC not ask what is the need for a Uniform Civil Code now when there are scores of other problems facing the nation?
Ambedkar’s challenge to Muslim League
The man who fought the case for the UCC in the Constituent Assembly was Dr B R Ambedkar. He lambasted the League members who argued in the Constituent Assembly against a common civil code saying Sharia was immutable for Muslims. He challenged them to deny that up to 1935, the North-West Frontier Province followed not the Sharia Law, but the Hindu Law, and up to 1937 in the rest of India, the United Provinces, the Central Provinces and Bombay, Muslims were largely governed by the Hindu Law in matters of succession. He cited that the Muslims in North Malabar were till that day following the Hindu Marumakkathayam (matrilineal) law.
He concluded that no Muslim could say that the framers of the idea of a common civil code had done great violence to the sentiments of the Muslim community. Here are the details of the common bases of civil code among Hindus and Muslims which Dr Ambedkar spoke about.
Common civil law base of Hindu-Muslim society till October 1937
Go back to 1937. From Kerala to UP, from Bengal to North-West Province, whether it was the Hindu-ruled Ajmer-Merwara or Muslim-ruled Awad (Ayodhya), the rules of Inheritance, Succession, Adoption, or Wills were common for Hindus and Muslims. See the list.
In Kerala, the local Hindu law of Marumakkathayam prevailed over the Sharia among Moplah Muslims. In the succession to Tarawad in Malabar in Kerala, in Muslim families that followed Hindu customs, the Sharia was not applied.
In Punjab and the North-Western Province, now part of Pakistan, local Hindu customs prevailed over the Sharia. In Punjab, the heart of today’s Pakistan, the Hindu custom of allowing widows life estate in property prevailed over the Sharia that give her an absolute share. The customary law of East and West Punjab did not recognise the Sharia on Iddat, which provided for a divorced wife’s maintenance only for three months.
In Oudh (Ayodhya) — Muslim-ruled province till 1856 — the custom among the Muslims for the widows to take a life interest as per Hindu law prevailed over the Sharia that gave her specific, absolute share. In East and West Punjab, the custom of adoption prevalent among the Muslims that was contrary to the Sharia, was recognised by courts. The custom of writing Wills among the Muslims in East and West Punjab, which was contrary to the Sharia, too, was recognised by courts. In East Punjab, customs having the force of law were expressly allowed to prevail over the Shariat.
The Oudh Estates Act passed by Muslim rulers expressly exempted Muslims from the application of the Sharia. The Nawab of Oudh legislated local customs to prevail over the Sharia, as in East Punjab. It was identical in Ajmer-Merwara also. In Madhya Pradesh, too, local customs conflicting with the Sharia prevailed. Kambojis of Malerkotla state who were predominantly agricultural, were governed by local custom and not the Sharia in matters of inheritance.
When a large section of people converted from Hinduism to Islam, like the Kutchi Memons and the Khojas, they continued to be governed by Hindu laws. The same principle of Hindu law, as in the case of Memons and the Khojas, was applied to the Sunni Bohras and Molisalam Giriasias in Gujarat. Halai Memons, like the Kutchi Memons, were governed by Hindu law.
In Madras province, courts refused to apply the Sharia principle that mandated Muslims to sell their properties only to Muslims. In the Presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, local Hindu customs prevailed over the Shariat. In the mofussil areas of Madras, local customs and usages were allowed to prevail over the Shariat.
An interesting tailpiece. Despite the Shariat Act 1937, the Muslims of Cooch Behar were governed only by the Hindu law till, believe it, as recently as July 1, 1980. Only from that date did the government of West Bengal notify the application of the Shariat Act.
Can anyone deny that the aim of the 1937 Act was to cut off the umbilical links that existed between the Hindus and the converts?
Economic integration, social diversity
It was this commonality between Hindus and converted Muslims at the local levels that made them feel like each other was the target of the 1937 Act. The Islamic Sharia consists of two broad aspects. One, the religious and cultural part; and two, the economic part. That part of Sharia which consisted of marriage, divorce and other cultural and social aspects was followed by the converted Muslims even before 1937.
So, cultural diversity that enabled the converts to follow their own religious rules existed even before 1937. But the second part, the economic part, consisted of property rights and inheritance rules.
As in almost the whole of India, local Hindu customs and usage laws of property and property rights were common to Hindus and Muslims till 1937, which acted as a powerful social and economic link and kept the converted Muslims integrated with their ancestral Hindu society. The idea behind the 1937 Act besides giving separate and formal communal and religious identity to the Muslims, was psychologically to snap the common rules of property and property rights. The strategy behind the Shariat Act 1937 was to break that societal bond. The 1937 Act turned two brothers with differences into enemies without a common base in just under a decade. See the most powerful example of how this transformation worked.
1937 Act turned brothers into enemies
Jinnah belonged to the Khoja Muslim community, also known as Ismailis. Who were Khojas? Even as late as just a few decades before Jinnah sounded the Islamic partition bugle, the Holy Book of the Khojas, was not the Quran but Dashavatara. In Dashavatara, nine Avatars up to Krishna were common between Khoja Muslims and Hindus. Only the 10th Avatar is different. The tenth Avatar for the Khojas was Ali, the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed. In their work, The Aga Khan Case: Religion and Identity in Colonial India [p55] Purohit, Teena (2001) citing the famous Aga Khan succession case [1866] in the Mumbai High Court confirm that fact. In Dashavatara, part of the Ismaili devotional hymns known as Ginans was the work of Pir Sadruddin, founder of the Khojas and descendent of Prophet’s son-in-law, Ali. This was cited as Aga Khan’s previous connection with the Prophet through Ali Pir Sadruddin. As Khojas converted, not as individuals, but as a community, it was the Hindu law of succession that applied to them, not the Sharia.
Jinnah, who was born within 10 years of the Bombay High Court judgment that Khojas did not have Quran as their Holy Text, might not have read the Quran but perhaps only Dashavatara as he grew up. He himself followed only the Hindu law till 1937. He ensured even in the 1937 Act he would have the rights of a Hindu to adopt and also to write a Will. And yet he turned the bitterest enemy of the Hindus and unleashed a bloodbath when he called for direct action in 1946 to achieve partition. Like Jinnah, later the grandson of Aga Khan [Aga Khan III] played a prominent part in the Muslim League and in the creation of Pakistan. Like in the case of Khojas, Kutchi Memon Muslims who, too, were similarly converted as a group, the Hindu law, not the Islamic one, applied. Tiger Memon and Yakub Memon, whose parents and grandparents would have only followed the Hindu laws, bombed and killed as many as 900 innocents and maimed 2000 in 1993. The trigger for this massive shift to hostility and enmity was the 1937 Shariat Act.
The UCC was conceptualised by the Founding Fathers to ensure that post Independence, Hindu-Muslim relations are not ruined like in the pre-partition days by the continuation of the 1937 Act. Contrary to the constitutional mandate, the 1937 law has been allowed to fester for too long. The law that divided Bharat into India and Pakistan and which the Constitution makers wanted undone, is now being glorified by pseudo-seculars as integral to the religious rights of Muslims. This is an utter perversion. The UCC is an attempt – a belated one though – to right that historic wrong. It calls for deep national introspection dating back to 1937. Undoubtedly the 1937 Act divided India. Will the UCC integrate it?
(S Gurumurthy: Editor, Thuglak, and commentator on economic and political affairs ) https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/columns/s-gurumurthy/2023/jul/07/the-1937-act-divided-india-will-ucc-integrate-it-2592189.html 
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