The Assam Assembly in India, has passed a bill to abolish the Muslim marriages and divorces act, which has been in effect since 1935. The Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan had on August 22 present The Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 in the Assembly to abolish The Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 and the Assam Repealing Ordinance 2024......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
“The registration of marriages and divorces is not mandatory and the machinery of registration is informal leaving a lot of scope of noncompliance of extant norms,” the Assam Repealing Bill, 2024 stated.
In the Statement of Object and Reasons of the Repealing Bill the Minister said, “There remains a scope of registering marriages of the intended person below 21 years (in case of male) and 18 years (in case of female) and hardly any monitoring made for implementation of this act throughout the state which attracts and invite the huge amount of litigation in the criminal/civil court.
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“There is a scope of misuse by both authorized licensees (Muslim marriage Registrars) as well as by citizens for underage/minor marriages and forcefully arranged marriages without the consent of the parties.”
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The current act allows for underage marriages under certain conditions, which has led to concerns about child welfare and gender equality.
“It is a pre-independence Act adopted by the British India government for the then Province of Assam for Muslim religious and social arrangements,” Minister Mohan stated.
The new bill, titled The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2024, aims to put an end to child marriages in the state by requiring all marriages to be registered under the government system.
“The aim is not only to abolish child marriages, … also to get away with the Kazi system. We want to bring registration of Muslim marriages and divorces under the government system,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
However, the move has been met with opposition from some parties, who claim that it is “discriminatory against Muslims”
“We are against Child marriage and the government can amend some provisions in the previous act, but they didn’t and repealed the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act and Rules, 1935. We have no other option but to take the matter to court,” opposition party, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Aminul Islam said.
Supporters of the bill argue that it is a necessary step to protect the rights of women and children and to ensure that all citizens are treated equally under the law.
The Assam government on Tuesday introduced The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2024.
