Assam Government Repeals Muslim Marriages And Divorces Registration Act; AIUDF Reacts

Assam Cabinet on February 23 repealed the Assam Muslim Marriage and Divorces Act, 1935. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma took to X and said that the move marks another significant step towards prohibiting child marriages. The Assam Government termed it as an obsolete pre-Independence Act of the British for the then Province of Assam. “Registration of marriages and divorces is not mandatory as per the Act and the machinery of registration is informal, leaving a lot of scope for non-compliance of extant norms. As per provisions of the Act, there remains scope for registering marriages of intended persons below 21 years (for males) and 18 years (for females) and there is hardly any monitoring for implementation of the Act,” Assam Government said. However, AIUDF MLA from Assam, Rafiqul Islma questioned the state cabinet for the move.