The northern Indian state of Uttarakhand has started implementing a common civil code to replace religious laws, a move that will likely trigger unease among India’s Muslim minority.

Addressing a news conference on Monday announcing the enactment of the so-called Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Uttarakhand’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said it would bring about “equality”.

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“This code is not against any sect or religion. Through this, a way has been found to get rid of evil practices in the society,” added Dhami, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The introduction of UCC to replace India’s patchwork of laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance has been a longstanding goal of the BJP.

In February last year, Uttarakhand lawmakers passed the common civil code law, to bring about a uniform set of rules for civil relationships – including marriage, divorce and inheritance – across all religions and making the registration of live-in relationships mandatory.

Uttarakhand is the second Indian state to implement such a law. Goa is the only other state of the country that already had a common civil code, introduced when it used to be a Portuguese colony.

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Although criminal laws are the same for all, different communities – the majority Hindus, the over 200 million Muslims, Christians (about 26 million) and tribal communities – follow their own civil laws, influenced by religious texts and cultural mores.

‘Totally biased against Muslims’

Supporters say the UCC gives Muslim women the same rights as others by ending polygamy, setting equal property inheritance rights for sons and daughters, and requiring divorce processes to take place before a civil court.

However, experts say the law does not challenge patriarchal provisions in Hindu civil law, for instance, on the guardianship of a minor boy or unmarried girl going to the father, and only after him, to the mother.

Namrata Mukherjee, senior resident fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, told Al Jazeera last year – after the Uttarakhand law was passed – that it “disproportionately impacts Muslim personal law practices”.

“While technically a uniform civil code should have standardised provisions of marriage, divorce and succession for all, irrespective of their religious identity, it has selectively outlawed and criminalised personal laws and customary practices of religious minorities, especially Muslims,” she had said.

Muslim leaders, therefore, accuse the BJP of trying to push through an agenda to impose what they say is effectively a “Hindu code” disguised as a UCC on other religious groups, who are currently allowed their own rules on marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance.

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Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, India’s largest socio-religious Muslim organisation, said the implementation of the law in Uttarakhand was an “assault on citizens’ religious freedom”.

“This law is … based entirely on discrimination and bias,” Jamiat said in a statement, adding that the move will be challenged in both the state High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

Asma Zehra, president of the All India Muslim Women Association, told the AFP news agency the law was “an attack on our identity”.

This move would create “huge challenges” for Muslim women because it would lead to a conflict between state laws and those of their faith, she said.

“This law is totally biased against Muslims and is a manifestation of Islamophobia,” she added.

The law also makes it mandatory for couples to register live-in heterosexual relationships – or else face a three-month jail term or a fine.

“It is absolutely contrary to the right to privacy and personal autonomy,” senior lawyer Geeta Luthra told AFP, adding that the state should not “enter into the realm of what citizens do consensually”.