@daemontarg
SS: An Indian state ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party on Tuesday presented a bill on personal laws that will apply across religions, including banning polygamy and granting equal inheritance rights to sons and daughters.
The proposed bill in Uttarakhand, a northern state along the Himalayas, is likely to be used as template by several other states ruled by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of a long-running pledge, despite opposition from some Muslim leaders.
"The Constitution inspires us to seek equality and harmony and the commitment to implement the Uniform Civil Code law will act as a bridge towards that," Uttarakhand's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on X social media before presenting the bill in the assembly amid an uproar by some opposition members.
The bill, reviewed by Reuters, also proposes to increase the legal age of marriage for girls to years, guarantees equal rights to men and women on matters pertaining to divorce and s in ancestral property, and offers full rights to children who were adopted, born out of wedlock or conceived through surrogate births.
A legal expert working on the UCC bill in Uttarakhand said in recent years the majority Hindu community tended to marry off daughters after they turned but Islam's Sharia laws do not restrict the marriage of girls who are minors.
Some tribal communities have been excluded from the new provisions in the bill, which is likely to be easily passed as the BJP enjoys a big majority in the state assembly.
Currently, India's Hindus, Musli..., Christians and large tribal populations follow their own personal laws and customs, or an optional secular code, for marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance.
Framing a national common law has been one of the three core promises of the BJP, which will be chasing a third straight term in general elections due by May. It has fulfilled the other two: building a fiercely contested grand Hindu temple, and removing the autonomy of the Muslim-majority region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Muslim theologians see the new bill as a threat to Islamic Sharia law and religious practices including polygamy.
"Modi's government is determined to destroy diverse practices," said Kamal Farooqui, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. "UCC is just another proof that they are imposing a majoritarian agenda."

印度总理纳伦德拉·莫迪所在的政党所执政的一个邦于周二提出了一项关于个人法律的法案,该法案将跨越不同宗教适用,其中包括禁止一夫多妻制,并赋予儿子和女儿平等的继承权。
这项在喜马拉雅山脉沿线北部地区——北阿坎德邦(Uttarakhand)提出的拟议法案,很可能被其他由莫迪领导的印度人民党(BJP)执政的多个邦作为模板采纳,尽管遭到一些穆斯林领袖的反对。
“宪法激励我们追求平等与和谐,而实施统一民法典的决心将成为通往这一目标的桥梁,”北阿坎德邦首席部长普什卡·辛格·达米在社交媒体X上表示,在提交法案给议会之前,面对部分反对派成员的喧闹声,他发表了这番讲话。
路透社审查的该法案还提议将女孩的法定结婚年龄提高至18岁,确保男女在离婚、继承祖传财产等问题上享有平等权利,并赋予领养子女、非婚生子女以及通过代孕出生的子女全面的权利。
一位参与北阿坎德邦统一民法典(UCC)法案制定的法律专家表示,近年来,占多数的印度教社区倾向于在女儿年满18岁后为其安排婚姻,但伊斯兰教沙里亚法并未限制未成年人女孩的婚姻。
新法案中的某些条款将部分部落群体排除在外,鉴于BJP在该邦立法议会中占据绝对多数席位,该法案很可能轻松通过。
目前,印度的印度教徒、穆斯林、基督教徒以及众多部落群体遵循各自的个人法律和习俗,或者选择适用世俗统一法,来处理婚姻、离婚、收养和继承等问题。
制定全国统一普通法一直是BJP的三大核心承诺之一。BJP将在2024年5月前举行的下届大选中寻求连续第三次赢得大选。迄今为止,BJP已经实现了另外两个承诺:建设一座极具争议性的大型印度教寺庙,并废除了穆斯林占多数的查谟和克什米尔地区的自治地位。
穆斯林神学家认为,这项新法案对伊斯兰教沙里亚法以及包括一夫多妻制在内的宗教习俗构成了威胁。
“莫迪政府决心要破坏多元化的实践,”全印度穆斯林个人法委员会成员卡马尔·法鲁基说,“统一民法典只是他们强推多数派议程的又一个证据。”