In a move that has sparked controversy and criticism, the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand has become the first to introduce sweeping marriage reforms under the Narendra Modi-led Hindu nationalist government. These reforms, which include a ban on polygamy, a raised minimum marriage age, and equal inheritance rights for sons and daughters, have been framed by some as an attack on the religious freedoms of the country’s Muslim population.
Starting Monday, the new laws will prohibit polygamy, set the legal marriage age at 21 for men and 18 for women, and mandate equal inheritance rights for both genders. These changes are part of a broader initiative to unify India’s marriage, divorce, and inheritance laws—a historic first since the country’s independence.
The laws are particularly controversial for Muslims, who have historically been governed by personal laws derived from Islamic sharia. For decades, India’s diverse religious communities, including its 200 million Muslims, have followed their own religious laws when it comes to marriage, divorce, and inheritance. However, the BJP government’s introduction of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is being seen by critics as an effort to impose a singular set of laws across all communities, particularly targeting Muslims.
As The Times UK reports, the decision to introduce the UCC in Uttarakhand, a state with a small and scattered Muslim population, is seen as a strategic move by Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Uttarakhand’s population is predominantly Hindu, and its Muslim community constitutes only around 14%. Political analysts, such as Neerja Choudhary, suggest that the state’s relatively small and dispersed Muslim population makes it a safe testing ground for the BJP’s controversial experiment with the UCC. If successful, the BJP may extend the code to other states under its governance.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, a member of the BJP, has hailed the reforms as a victory for women’s rights, claiming that they will eliminate caste, religious, and gender-based discrimination in personal laws. “Under the code, we are attempting to bring uniformity in all laws relating to personal civil matters that discriminate on the basis of caste, religion, sex,” Dhami said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
However, Muslim groups and Islamic clerics are vehemently opposed to the new laws, arguing that they violate the constitutional right to practice one’s religion. Islamic theologians have expressed strong opposition to any attempt to impose a uniform civil code, viewing it as an infringement on their religious autonomy. The Indian constitution guarantees the right to practice one’s religion, and many Muslims see the move as a direct challenge to this fundamental right.
Although some Muslim women’s rights activists, such as Zakia Soman, have agreed with the BJP’s stance on polygamy—claiming that the clergy has failed to reform Islamic laws that often allow the practice—Soman and others remain critical of the broader intentions behind the UCC. “Why has the federal government not introduced it for all states if it is so committed to gender justice? Why leave it to Uttarakhand? It makes you wonder about their real motives,” she remarked.
The controversy over the reforms also ties into wider concerns about the marginalization of Muslims since Modi’s BJP came to power in 2014. Critics argue that the government’s actions, including the imposition of the UCC in Uttarakhand, are part of a broader campaign to undermine the rights of Muslims and promote a Hindu-majority agenda.
For the broader Muslim community in India, the atmosphere is one of resignation. Taslim Ahmed Rehmani, head of the Muslim Political Council of India, voiced concerns about the law, labeling it as “anti-Muslim” and accusing the BJP of using it as a political tool to consolidate its Hindu-majority base. However, he expressed doubt that there would be widespread protests from the Muslim community, stating that many Muslims have accepted the reality of their marginalized position within the country.
