Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced through his social media on Saturday that the state has revoked the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, which had been in place for nearly ninety years.
The Assam government has officially annulled the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act of 1935, a legislation rooted in the colonial era. This decision, as articulated by state government spokesperson and minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, aims to align with the broader objective of implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) within the state. Baruah emphasized,
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced through his social media on Saturday that the state has revoked the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, which had been in place for nearly ninety years.
In his statement, he highlighted that the act had provisions permitting marriage registration for individuals under the legal ages of 18 and 21, as mandated by law. This decision signifies a noteworthy advancement in the campaign against child marriages in Assam.
“The Assam cabinet on Friday decided to repeal the age-old Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act. This act contained provisions allowing marriage registration even if the bride and groom had not reached the legal ages of 18 and 21, as required by law.”
The repealed act, specific to the Muslim community, facilitated the voluntary registration of Muslim marriages and divorces, granting the government authority to issue licenses for such registrations. With the law now nullified, the responsibility for maintaining registration records will transition to district commissioners and registrars, affecting the 94 Muslim Marriage Registrars previously empowered under the act. The government has pledged a one-time compensation of Rs 2 lakh to each registrar for rehabilitation purposes.
Critics, however, view this repeal as a politically motivated attempt to foster Hindu-Muslim polarization ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Opposition leaders, including Congress MLA Abdur Rashid Mandal and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Rafiqul Islam, have condemned the move. Mandal criticized the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government as “absolutely an anti-Muslim government,” accusing it of favoring Hindu constituents at the expense of Muslims. Islam echoed this sentiment, suggesting the government lacked the resolve to introduce a UCC and was instead targeting the Muslim community.
This legislative change marks a significant shift in Assam’s approach to marriage registration, reflecting broader debates on secularism, communal harmony, and the uniform application of civil laws across diverse religious communities.
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