Indian state leader pushes to replace religion-based laws

FILE PHOTO: People arrive at a port from their villages in Dhubri district, in the northeastern state of Assam, India August 4, 2018. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - India should replace marriage and inheritance laws that are based on religion with a uniform civil code, the chief minister of a northeastern state said on Sunday, taking aim at rules that allow Muslim men, for example, to have four wives.

Successive governments have steered clear of adopting such a code for fear of angering voters from India's Hindu majority as well as its Muslim and Christian minorities.