BJP-led Assam government introduces bill for compulsory registration of Muslim marriages and divorces

Guwahati: The BJP-led government in Assam on Tuesday introduced a bill in the Assembly that seeks to make registration of marriages and divorces of Muslims in the state compulsory and prohibit under-age marriage.

The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill 2024 was introduced by Jogen Mohan, the revenue and disaster management minister.

The statement of object and reason of the bill stated that it would help in prevention of child marriage and ensure minimum age for marriage for male is 21 years and for female 18 years. It will also prevent marriages without consent of the two parties and check polygamy.

It said the bill will help in enabling the widows to claim their inheritance rights, other benefits and privileges which they are entitled after the death of her husband and deter men from deserting women after marriage.

On August 22, the state government introduced a bill for repealing the Assam Moslem Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 saying that the "British-era act" had provisions for marriages of minors from the community.

The repealing bill said the 1935 act had scope of registration for marriage of male below 21 years and females below 18 years. Besides, registration of marriages and divorces is not mandatory and the machinery of registration is informal leaving a lot of scope for non-compliance of the extant norms, it said.

Under the new bill, the state government seeks to appoint designated officers as marriage registrars and prescribes legal action against anyone found making a false certificate.

CM Himanta Biswa earlier said aim of the bill is to check child marriage and protect rights of the Muslim women after marriage and death of their husnands. The Opposition parties, however, opposed the repealing bill saying instead of scrapping it, the government could have bridged the loopholes. They said by repealing the act, the BJP-led government was trying to infringe upon the Muslim personal laws meant for marriages.

Some activists belonging to Muslim community, however, welcomed the bills.