That’s not what she said
A report in The Hindu on Romila Thapar's talk: on "Indian Society and the Secular'' in Mumbai Oct 26, was headlined: "Secularism begins with Uniform Civil Code''. But she did not say that. She spoke of the need to curtail the power of religion over the state's functioning, and to have universal and uniform civil laws which guarantee basic needs to all citizens. The term "uniform civil code'' was in fact not used by her even once in the 40-minute lecture. Why then was the term with all its baggage used in the headline and opening paras in the newspaper?