The entire political set up of the country faced a stiff challenge from the wave of protest that shook

the nation. The reaction came as retaliation to the horrific incident which led to the death of a 23 year old student. In an outrageous turn of events, the student was raped in a moving vehicle that functioned in Delhi. Amidst strong criticism by various opposition parties and social groups, the Central Government led by Indian National Congress (INC) formed a committee to suggest reforms in the current laws of the state with respect to crime against women. Headed by a former Chief Justice of India, the committee gave suggestions on improvement of status of a woman, along with other substantive changes, a few of those were incorporated in an Ordinance by the INC. The Chairperson of the Committee commented that women in the society needed empowerment and upliftment for any real change to come in the near future, legislative tools like Uniform Civil Code can bring all women at similar footing to their respective counterparts. The legislature must not hesitate to bring in laws to put women equal in eyes of men and the law. The very Ordinance was criticized by the opposition as being fruitless, since it brought about hardly any changes. INC maintained their stand by saying that it had only incorporated issues that needed immediate response and further issues shall be deliberated upon in a Bill. The main opposition in the parliament, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) restarted the debate by introducing a bill on Uniform Civil Codes (UCC). Strongly thrashing the party in power, BJP stated that INC is incapable of taking decisions for the welfare of the masses and all the acts done by the party is merely to garner vote banks and not to bring about any change. For the purposes of this issue, BJP drafted a Uniform Civil Code relating to rights of woman in respect of marriage, divorce and related rights. This however was not considered to hold its ground by many legal experts, even by a rough reading of the amendment, it could be clearly established that this bill had sought to put the Hindu personal law under the garb of UCC and taken away other rights of different personal laws. The day this Bill was pushed by BJP, the Left Front vehemently opposed to the same. Believing in being the crusaders of the oppressed, The Left rejected the idea of the UCC. It stated that every section of the society has problems with their own set of laws; the government should rather focus on bringing the changes within the scope of every personal law than accepting such amendments.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had been the leaders when it came down to protesting against the incompetent government who is not in a position to maintain law and order in the country. But with the on-going mystery regarding the status of the bill, Aam Aadmi Party had completely sidelined itself from the matter. However, when the same question was put forward to them in a press interview, the official comment was that being a part of AAP, it is our duty to remember that we are common people and the country must be governed by the will of the people. A new law cannot be imposed on the people without their prior consent, specially, a law that shall govern every individual and might take away religious rights of the common man. In such circumstances, a referendum shall be the only option viable and the government should honor the will of the people. The very next day, the party focused on targeting an eminent personality of a rival regional political party and accusing him of corruption. For a long time now, INC has been keeping itself aside from amending any personal laws in the light of the current debate. The stance of the INC has been that India has been a secular society and certain religious laws are based on customs and traditions that have been incorporated in the religion for over 100 years and thus have been a part of the personal law. The legislature should not interfere with these laws so long as they are permissible. The discussions relating to the passage of the UCC Bill are to take place on 28th February, 2013. In possibly for the time in the history of the electronic media, the leaders of the four parties have agreed to face each other on the public forum on 25th February, 2013 in front of the media wherein they shall justify their stands and reply to the accusations raised on their party.