Indian state implements contentious common civil code

DEHRADUN, India: An Indian state announced on Monday it had begun implementing a common civil code to replace religious laws, stoking fear among minority Muslims of a looming nationwide rollout by the Hindu-nationalist ruling party.

Introduction of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to replace India´s patchwork of laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance has been a longstanding goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi´s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).The northern state of Uttarakhand, taking in much of the Indian Himalayas, on Monday became just the second Indian state to implement such a law.

Goa, the beach resort state on India´s west coast, is the only part of the country that already had a common civil code -- introduced when it was still a Portuguese colony.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 take place before a civil court.It also makes it mandatory for couples to register live-in heterosexual relationships -- or else face a three-month jail term or a fine.