One of the BJP’s long-standing goals is the introduction of a uniform civil code to replace India’s patchwork of laws on marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
The northern Indian state of Uttarakhand started implementing a common civil code to replace religious laws, a move which will likely trigger unease among India’s Muslim minority.
Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami addressed a news conference on Monday to announce the enactment of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), saying it would bring about “equality.”
This code is not against any sect or religion. Through this, a way has been found to eliminate evil practices in society,” added Dhami, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
This has long been the objective of the BJP in terms of the introduction of UCC in place of the patchwork of laws in India over marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
In February last year, Uttarakhand lawmakers passed the common civil code law, which was meant to establish a uniform set of rules for civil relationships – including marriage, divorce, and inheritance—across all religions and make registration of live-in relationships mandatory.
Although criminal laws are uniform for all, civil laws differ for different communities, which are mainly Hindus (966 million), the country’s Muslim (200 million) and Christian (26 million) minorities, and tribal communities (104 million), each following their respective civil laws based on religious texts and cultural mores.
