How a controversial law allows Modi's Hindu nationalists to monitor private relationships
Uttarakhand became the first state in 64 years to enact a measure that further entrenches the BJP’s Hindu supremacist agenda.
On January 27, one day after the 76th anniversary of the adoption of India’s constitution, Uttarakhand became its first state to implement Uniform Civil Code (UCC), a civil law that regulates private decisions such as live-in relationships between unmarried partners, marriage and divorce proceedings, and inheritance.
Under the UCC, both married partners (dating back to March 26, 2010) as well as those in heterosexual live-in partnerships must register their relationships with the state, regardless of whether they are residents of Uttarakhand, a BJP stronghold in the north. To register, a couple must fill out a 16-page form, pay a registration fee, and provide documentation from a religious leader certifying that they are eligible to marry, along with details of their past relationships, according to The Indian Express. Failing to register live-in partnerships will result in a three- or six-month jail term or a fine of up to the equivalent of around $110 to $290.
But while proponents say the UCC will make Indian society safer for women of all faiths and help spur “gender equality,” in reality it’s likely to expand state surveillance of interfaith couples and intimidate Muslims. “The bill has nothing to do with the protection of women's rights and everything to do with the narrow political agenda of the BJP-RSS,” Brinda Karat, the leader of the Communist Party, told Indian news agency ANI. Notably, the UCC does not appear to Scheduled Tribes (indigenous groups of India). “If it is so pro-woman, why are tribal women kept out of it? Why this punishment against tribal women?”
Many fear how the state might use the information it gleans via the UCC. “How do you know the data won't be leaked out?” Tehseen Poonawalla, a political activist, asked on Mirror Now, an Indian news channel. In recent years, India has already seen numerous instances of Hindu vigilantes attempting to intimidate or prevent interfaith marriages. “How do you know the government and their goons will not enter your bedroom?” Poonawalla asked.
In 2020, Article 14, an Indian media outlet, reported that details on as many as 120 interfaith couples in Kerala had been leaked on social media by far-right Hindu vigilante groups. In 2021, Newslaundry, an independent outlet, reported that Hindu vigilante groups in Maharashtra’s Nasik had gone to the couple’s home to threaten them.
The UCC stems from the “Directive Principle of State Policy,” a provision in India’s constitution. It instructs the central government to “endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India,” essentially a pledge to honor India’s commitment to secularism by standardizing laws on marriage, which vary greatly across faiths.
But the All-India Muslim League, which represented Muslims in India, argued at the time that such a provision would violate religious freedom and undermine India’s secular nature. As a result, the Indian central government left it up to the individual states to decide whether to adopt the UCC. (Prior to Uttarakhand, only Goa, a union territory, had a form of UCC.)
Anti-Muslim dog whistles are a recurring feature from top figures in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including Anurag Singh Thakur, the union minister for information and broadcasting, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Modi himself.
Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, said the adoption of the UCC in Uttarakhand will “strengthen the spirit of democracy and the Constitution.” In a speech following Uttarakhand's implementation of the UCC, Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of the state, alluded to an incident in 2022 in which a Hindu woman named Shraddha Walkar was murdered by a Muslim man. “Through UCC, we aim to ensure that an Aaftab never commits brutality against our daughters or sisters like Shraddha Walkar,” he said. The murder helped fuel the anti-Muslim “Love-Jihad” conspiracy, fueled by fear about interfaith marriage. Only 2.6% of marriages in India are interfaith, as per India’s 2015-16 National Family Health Survey.
In 2021, calls for a genocide against Muslims were made by “Hindu ascetics” at “dharma sansad” in Uttrakhand.
On January 27, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, a prominent group of Muslim religious leaders, issued a statement pledging to challenge the UCC. The group will reportedly challenge the UCC implementation in the Uttarakhand High Court.
Uttarakhand’s adoption of the UCC is “nothing but an attempt to fast-track the process, to have a pilot project, before you can impose... because you don't have a consensus,” Abhishek Singhvi, a spokesperson for the Indian National Congress, told The Hindu ahead of UCC’s launch. “So you do it like kickstarting a pilot project."
Other states appear ready to follow Uttarakhand’s lead. Uttar Pradesh, another state where the BJP dominates, has not implemented the UCC. Just two days before Uttarakhand’s UCC announcement, Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Modi’s likely successor, appeared to imply in an interview with CNN-News18 that the UCC had, in fact, already been implemented in his state. “Seeing how UP operates, do you still doubt the existence of the Uniform Civil Code?” Pressed further on whether it had already been implemented, he claimed, “Yes, it has already been implemented.” Media outlets India often frame him as the country’s next prime minster.
This week, the Mumbai-based Center for Study of Society and Secularism reported an 84 percent increase in communal riots across India from 2023 to 2024. Last year, Washington, DC-based think tank India Hate Lab documented 668 hate speech events across India that targeted Muslims. Two-thirds of those incidents occurred in states where the BJP is in power.
As the UCC debate unfolds, a Hindu supremacy group called Hindu Rashtra Samvidhan Nirmal Samiti (HRSNS) is set to present a draft constitution for a “Unified Hindu Nation" on February 2.
At a recent religious celebration, Swami Anand Swaroop, a member of HRSNS, told reporters that his group sought to make India a Hindu nation by 2035. “Our Constitution is not against other religions but those who are found involved in anti-national activities will face harsher punishment than what is awarded to them currently,” he said.
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