An announcement was made that an Indian state ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party plans to introduce a controversial new common personal law that will be applicable across all religions. This new law is expected to be seen as an example for other states to follow. Currently, India’s Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and large tribal populations follow their own personal laws and customs or have the option to adopt a secular code for marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance.
The establishment of a national common law has been one of the three main promises of Modi’s Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). The party has already fulfilled two of its promises, including the construction of a highly disputed grand Hindu temple, and the revocation of the autonomy of the Muslim-majority region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The state of Uttarakhand, located in the northern part of the country and nestled in the Himalayan foothills, is expected to introduce a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) bill next week, according to officials.
Analysts believe that this move, coming ahead of Modi’s bid for a rare third term in the upcoming general elections, may further strengthen the Hindu vote. The UCC is a contentious issue, especially for many minority Muslims who view it as an interference with centuries-old Islamic practices, such as polygamy and instant divorce, and criticize the BJP for its hardline Hindu-first image.
Asaduddin Owaisi, a federal lawmaker and prominent Muslim voice, described the UCC as a “trial balloon” ahead of the elections and stated that Hindu nationalists claim to be in favor of non-uniformity, except when it comes to Muslims.
Although no draft of the UCC has been presented, BJP leaders have stated that it primarily aims to modernize Muslim personal laws. A committee set up in Uttarakhand in 2022 to draft the code is expected to submit its work to the state government and will likely present it to the state’s legislative body next week.
“Several state governments across India are looking at whether a uniform civil code could be implemented,” said Nalin Kohli, a national BJP spokesperson, adding that “the systematic process to get uniform civil code in several states has begun.”
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami of Uttarakhand announced on the social media platform X that his ministers would assess the draft and “start the process to make it into a bill and then an act”. Modi’s government ended special privileges enjoyed by Kashmir in August 2019 and earlier this month unveiled a grand temple to Hindu deity Ram replacing a Mughal-era mosque razed by radical Hindu groups in 1992.
Personal laws can be legislated by both federal and state governments, and other BJP-ruled states have indicated that they could use the Uttarakhand UCC draft as a template. The Chief Minister of Assam state, Himanta Biswa Sarma, stated that his state would consider introducing similar legislation once the Uttarakhand UCC bill is passed with some modifications.
Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister of the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, told Reuters that “wherever the BJP is (in power), the possibility of bringing UCC has been and will always be there”, adding that it will be introduced “at the right time”.
(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik and Rupam Jain in New Delhi, Saurabh Sharma in Lucknow, Sumit Khanna in Ahmedabad, and Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneshwar; writing by Krishn Kaushik; editing by Lincoln Feast.)
