India’s Civil Code Push Fuels Fresh Muslim Concerns

New Delhi (GNP): India’s plan to extend the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) across all Bharatiya Janata Party-led states has reignited concerns among Indian Muslims, after Home Minister Amit Shah pledged to implement the legislation nationwide by 2029.

The UCC would replace community-specific personal laws governing marriage, divorce and inheritance with a single, common legal framework applicable across all communities.

Currently, India’s 1.4 billion citizens already share a uniform criminal code. However, personal matters continue to be governed by the customary traditions of different religious and cultural communities.

Bringing personal law under a single uniform code has long been a central goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP. At least four states have already implemented the UCC.

Shah reaffirmed the party’s commitment to expanding the policy further, targeting all 21 states currently governed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

While the BJP argues the code would promote legal equality and uniformity across communities, Muslim groups and other critics have raised concerns that it could weaken protections currently available under their existing personal laws.

Also Read: Oil Prices Surge and Shipping Plunges as Hormuz Crisis Deepens

These concerns carry particular weight given India’s demographic scale. The country is majority Hindu but is also home to an estimated 220 million Muslims, giving it the world’s third-largest Muslim population.

The debate comes as political attention increasingly turns toward India’s next general election, due in 2029. Modi secured a third consecutive term in 2024, though the result forced his party into a coalition government for the first time in a decade.

Shah said, “I am confident that we will implement the Uniform Civil Code in all 21 states governed by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance by 2029.”