May 21 2025 to May 21 2025 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has long been at the heart of India’s constitutional and cultural tensions — hailed by some as a promise of equality, and critiqued by others as a tool of homogenisation. As the political momentum around the UCC gathers pace once again, with the recent Uttarakhand legislation in the news, this session revisits the debate from a constitutional, feminist, and social justice lens.

What does “uniformity” mean in a deeply plural society? Can equality be achieved without erasing difference? How do we center the lived realities of women, religious minorities, Dalits, and Adivasis in this conversation?

A moderated discussion with the panelists will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Speakers

Raag Yadava
Legal Scholar
Raag Yadava has worked across legal practice, academia and policy. He was legal counsel for the Government of India in its international disputes and has advised on education and environmental policy. He served as an Assistant Professor of Law at the National Law School of India, Bengaluru and is Director of the Uttarayana Faith Foundation, a healthcare and education NGO in Uttarakhand. He is the author of Governance in Auroville (2024). He holds degrees from the National Law School of India University and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Madhu Bhushan
Feminist Activist, Researcher & Filmmaker
An independent activist- (re)searcher and very occasional film maker, Madhu Bhushan has earlier worked with the CIEDS Collective and Vimochana for more than three decades till 2014. She has been involved with crisis intervention, community outreach, campaigns and advocacy with a focus on rural and tribal communities. Currently associated with Gamana Women’s Collective, a feminist collective she is also engaged with various networks and organisations working on human rights and social justice including rights of sex workers, trans communities and adivasis.

Alok Prasanna
Co-Founder & Lead, Vidhi Karnataka
Alok Prasanna Kumar is Co-Founder and Lead, Vidhi Karnataka. His areas of research include judicial reforms, Constitutional law, urban development, and law and technology.

He graduated with a B.A. LL.B. (Hons) from the NALSAR University in 2008 and obtained the BCL from the University of Oxford in 2009. He writes a monthly column for the Economic and Political Weekly and has published in the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law and National Law School of India Review apart from media outlets such as The Hindu, Indian Express, Scroll, Quint and Caravan. He has practiced in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court from the chambers of Mr Mohan Parasaran, and currently also co-hosts the Ganatantra podcast on IVM Podcasts.