Muslim group to move court as India’s Uttarakhand implements uniform civil code

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - An Indian Muslim group Monday said it will go to court after the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand became the country’s first to implement a uniform civil code -- a common set of personal laws for everyone, irrespective of religious beliefs -- despite opposition from minority groups.

State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami rolled out the Uniform Civil Code in the state, calling it a "historic day" and thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi “under whose guidance,” he said the state has “been successful in implementing this law."

India's largest socio-religious Muslim organization, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, said the implementation of the law in Uttarakhand is an “assault on citizens' religious freedom.”

“This law is … based entirely on discrimination and bias," Jamiat said in a statement.

The implementation of the law will be challenged in both the Nainital High Court and the Supreme Court of India, the statement added.

Dhami inaugurated a portal for applications and the rules manual for the civil code, which applies to all residents of the state, except “scheduled tribes category and protected authority-empowered persons and communities.”

Currently, only the state of Goa, a popular tourist destination on the western coast once under Portuguese colonial rule, has its own set of common laws, known as the Goa Civil Code.

Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and other tribal groups have their own laws on matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and property. The new law will standardize all personal laws, and the government says it will ensure gender quality and promote inclusivity.

Mohibbullah Nadvi, a leader of the opposition Samajwadi Party, said some people are “misleading others” by saying the uniform code will benefit them.

The common code has been part of Modi’s election manifesto since 2019, and is the only one so far that remained unfulfilled.

India's main opposition Congress party leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the government is “using it as a pilot project to keep the news alive."

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen spokesman Waris Pathan said that through the civil code, the government wants to interfere in the marriages and divorces of Muslims.

Separately, a court in the northern Uttar Pradesh state sentenced a Christian couple to five years for attempting to “convert individuals,” the first such conviction under India’s anti-conversion laws.