Minorities upset as Indian state adopts common civil code
Uttarakhand first state to implement such a law since India became independent from British rule
Updated: January 28, 2025 12:23 PM GMT
Christian and Muslim leaders have expressed dismay after the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand adopted a common civil code, replacing a patchwork of religion-based personal laws.
Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami told media Jan. 27 that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would “guarantee equal rights for all citizens, irrespective of their religious backgrounds.”
He said the state, ruled by the pro-Hindu Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), was the first to adopt the standard single code in India after its independence from British rule.
Tiny Goa on India’s west coast was the only Indian state with a common personal code, introduced when it was a Portuguese colony.
The Uttarakhand chief minister hoped to “inspire other states to consider similar reforms, potentially igniting a nationwide movement towards social justice and equal rights.”
The UCC envisages a unified set of laws governing matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption, inheritance, and maintenance for all citizens, regardless of their religion, gender, caste, or sex.
For decades, UCC was one of the top poll promises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, along with constructing the Ram temple at Ayodhya and revoking the autonomy guaranteed to Muslim-majority Kashmir, both of which have been fulfilled.
However, the law in Uttarakhand raises many doubts. It exempts tribal people from its purview, which has raised many questions from experts and activists.
“A law that is based on majoritarianism and against the minorities cannot be accepted as fair. It is biased,” said A.C. Michael, president of the Federation of Catholic Associations of the Archdiocese of Delhi (FCAAD).
Muslims, numbering over 200 million and the largest minority community, followed by Christians, who are about 26 million, and tribal communities, at around 105 million, all follow their own civil laws, influenced by religious texts and cultural mores.
A law that overrides the religious and cultural codes of the minorities “cannot be called equal,” Michael told UCA News on Jan. 28.
“The UCC imposed by the Uttarakhand government should be challenged in a court of law. It has to be repealed at the earliest,” he added.
Muhammad Arif, chairman of the Centre for Harmony and Peace, said, “India is a diverse country, with each community following its own traditions and customs. It will be difficult to bring everyone under one umbrella.”
Arif, a Muslim whose organization is based in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, said the appropriate thing to do would’ve been to ensure equal opportunities for all Indians.
Garima Dasauni, the chief spokesperson of Uttarakhand’s main opposition Congress party, told the media that the UCC will fail to serve the state’s people.
“It does not align with the constitutional principles, undermines tribal communities, and deepens social divisions, eroding individual liberty instead of fulfilling its objective,” she said.
Meanwhile, Muslim Seva Sangathan, a prominent Muslim organization, said the law was “an attack on the soul of the Indian constitution.”
It vowed to fight the battle against the “unjust law” in the courts.
Muslims form 14 percent while Christians are less than one percent of Uttarakhand’s around 11 million people, most of them Hindus.
