By 
14-02-2025
Marco Resconi
South and East Asia Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
The story behind the Uniform Civil Code
The idea of giving India a common framework of laws has been one of the most strongly supported points by the current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last two years. Namely, the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is said to bring together laws regulating civil relationships, unifying them, and, thus, ending different treatments and discrimination based on religion. In fact, although criminal laws are the same for every Indian state, civil laws vary depending on the community and its interpretation of religious texts and culture.
PM Modi and UCC supporters have added that such a code will mostly help Muslim women by granting them the same rights as men, ending polygamy, setting equal property inheritance rights, and moving divorce proceedings inside courts. Additionally, it has been argued that the UCC represents a step forward in eliminating gender discrimination and improving India’s national integration.
Finally, it is worth noticing that the idea of a uniform civil code aligns with the ideology of Modi’s political party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing party whose main characteristic is its Hindu nationalist ideology.
On the other hand, India’s religious minorities, like Muslims and Christians, oppose the Uniform Civil Code because they argue that the existence of a uniform code may hinder their constitutional rights to freedom of religion and culture (Aljazeera, 2025).
The current situation in India
In January 2025, the Indian state Uttarakhand was the second state to approve the Uniform Civil Code in the country. During a press conference held after the approval, Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami stated that the new Civil Code would enhance equality within the Indian justice system by regulating marriage, divorce, and inheritance legislation.
He also added that the UCC would not oppose any sect or religion but would only tackle evil practices in Indian society (Aljazeera, 2025).
Nonetheless, discussions on a uniform civil code system are ongoing as it clashes with the country’s approach to secularism, which allows different communities to follow their religious practices.
On the one hand, those in favour of the UCC argue that Muslim men are forcing Indian women to marry them according to religious laws, and others say that preventing Christians from celebrating marriages in churches might cause dissent (AFP News, 2025). They also believe that gender equality in India will not be achieved unless the UCC is approved.
On the other hand, those against the UCC describe its implementation as an assault on citizens’ religious freedom (Aljazeera, 2024).
Asma Zehra, president of the All India Muslim Women Association, for instance, has noted that the Sharia law already provides a framework that promotes equality, education and personal growth for women. Under Muslim personal laws, women can seek divorce from their husbands, enjoy inheritance rights, are entitled to receive half the share of male heirs of their inherited property, and can receive half of the inheritance. Thus, she concludes that Muslim women don’t need “an external saviour”.
Moreover, Muslim leaders have raised concerns that through the approval of the UCC, the BJP wants to impose a “Hindu code” in the whole country and gradually uniform the other religious groups (TheBusinessStandard, 2025).
Conclusion
The described story highlights that India is moving towards a more inclusive environment, more accepting of different religions, traditions, and cultures. This shift, albeit still restricted only in certain provinces, represents a major improvement for Indian women who gain more recognition and freedom. Nonetheless, protests across the country suggest that such change will not be happily welcomed, especially in the more rural areas, and underline that work still needs to be done to achieve equality.
Sources and further readings:
Agence France Presse. (2025, January 27). Indian State Implements Contentious Common Civil Code. Barron’s News. <https://www.barrons.com/news/indian-state-implements-contentious-common-civil-code-670b83db> accessed 10 February 2025.
Aljazeera. (2023, August 17). Will Modi’s Uniform Civil Code kill Indian “secularism”? Aljazeera. <https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/8/17/will-a-uniform-civil-code-end-indian-secularism> accessed 13 February 2025.
Aljazeera. (2025, January 27). India’s BJP-ruled Uttarakhand implements “totally biased” common civil code. Aljazeera. <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/27/indias-bjp-ruled-uttarakhand-implements-totally-biased-common-civil-code> accessed 12 February 2025.
Bibhudatta Pradhan. (2024, February 9). Why is an Indian state punishing live-in relationships? Aljazeera. <https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/2/9/why-is-an-indian-state-punishing-live-in-relationships> accessed 12 February 2025.
The Business. (2025, January 2025). Indian state Uttarakhand implements contentious common civil code. The Business Standard. <https://www.tbsnews.net/world/south-asia/indian-state-uttarakhand-implements-contentious-common-civil-code-1053871> accessed 12 February 2025.
Comments