News18 Mega UCC Poll: 73.7% Muslim Women Want Right to Remarry Without Restrictions for Divorcees

At least 73.7% of Muslim women want divorced husbands to be allowed to remarry without any restrictions, according to India’s largest Unified Civil Code (UCC) survey conducted by News18 Network.

without mentioning the UCC, 884 News18 reporters interviewed 8,035 Muslim women in the country’s 25 states and union territories about topics most likely to be covered by the UCC. Respondents were Muslim women in the 18-65+ category across regions, communities, educational and marital status, and across the education spectrum, from illiterate to postgraduate.

In fact, UCC means a single law that can be applied to all religious communities in matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance, among others. Muslim organizations responded forcefully to the latter’s announcement that the Law Commission would hold consultations again, with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) saying “majority morality” should not override religious freedom and rights of minority communities in the name of a code. News18 decided to check if its views were actually shared by the wider community, particularly women, who would be the most affected if the status quo continues.

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When asked if divorced couples should be allowed to remarry without any restrictions, 73.7% (5918) women said “yes”, 18% (1450) answered “no”, while 8.3% (667) said “I don’t know or can” I can’t say.

Among the respondents who have completed their graduation and more, 79% (2395) said “yes”, 15.6% (473) said “no”, while 5.4% (165) said “I don’t know or can’t say”.

In the 18-44 age group, 75.1% (4725) said “yes,” 17.5% (1101) said “no,” and 7.4% (469) said “I don’t know or can’t answer.” In the case of those over 44, 68.6% (1,193) said “yes,” 20.1% (349) said “no,” and 11.3% (198) said “I don’t know or can’t answer.”

Of the women surveyed, 18.8% were in the 18-24 age group, 32.9% in the 25-34 age group, 26.6% in the 35-44 age group, 14.4% in the 45-54 age group, and 5.4% in the 55-64 age group, and 1.9%. They were 65+. 70.3% are married, 24.1% are single, 2.9% are widows and 2.9% are divorced. 73.1% of the respondents are Sunnis, 13.3% are Shiites, and 13.6% are from others.

Among the women surveyed, 10.8% were Postgraduates, 27% Graduated, 20.8% Studied up to Grade 12+, 13.8% Studied up to Grade 10+, 12.9% Studied up to Grade 5-10, and 4.4% up to class 5, 4.2% are illiterate and 4.2% have basic literacy, and 1.9% are other.