Religion and Personal Law in Secular India: A Call to Judgment

Gerald James Larson

nov 2001 · Indiana University Press

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Though a directive principle of the constitution, a uniform civil code of law has never been written or instituted in India. As a result, in matters of personal law -- the segment of law concerning marriage, dowry, divorce, parentage, legitimacy, wills, and inheritance -- individuals of different backgrounds must appeal to their respective religious laws for guidance or rulings. But balancing the claims of religious communities with those of a modern secular state has caused some intractable problems for India as a nation. Religion and Personal Law in Secular India provides a comprehensive look into the issues and challenges that India faces as it tries to put a uniform civil code into practice.

Contributors include Granville Austin, Robert D. Baird, Srimati Basu, Kevin Brown, Paul Courtright, Rajeev Dhavan, Marc Galanter, Namita Goswami, Laura Dudley Jenkins, Jayanth Krishnan, Gerald James Larson, John H. Mansfield, Ruma Pal, Kunal M. Parker, William D. Popkin, Lloyd I. Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph, Sylvia Vatuk, and Arvind Verma.

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Gerald James Larson is Rabindranath Tagore Professor of Indian Cultures and Civilization and Director of the India Studies Program at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is author of India's Agony over Religion and Classical Samkhya: An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning and co-editor of Interpreting across Boundaries: New Essays in Comparative Philosophy and The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, vol. 4, Samkhya: A Dualist Tradition in Indian Philosophy.