Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday asserted that the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935 will be repealed, and as long as he is alive, he will “not let child marriage take place in Assam”.
The Assam CM also pledged that he would eliminate child marriage in the state before 2026.
The Assam Cabinet on Friday had approved the decision to repeal the Act in a bid to end child marriage in the state.
Responding to the criticism in the state Assembly, Sarma said that the bill will be repealed as it is a step towards abolishing child marriage. “Till I am alive, I won’t allow child marriage to happen in Assam,” he said.
“I will not let this happen as long as Himanta Biswa Sarma is alive…I would like to challenge you politically, I will shut down this shop before 2026,” he added.
On Sunday, Sarma said that the Muslim women of the state will get relief from “torture and exploitation” once the Act is repealed.
“The torture, and exploitation that has been going on against Muslim mothers for so long will be ended with this bill. The Prime Minister ended triple talaq. But in Assam only because of this act, a Kazi would not have been faulted if he had registered the marriage of a below 18-year-old girl and he had gotten bail from the court. Now to give talaq will not be easy after the repeal of this act and there will no registration of marriage below 18 years old girl,” Sarma added.
He posted on ‘X’ and said that this move marks another significant step towards prohibiting child marriages in Assam.
The “obsolete pre-independence” era Act Act was repealed in a bid to end child marriages, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. ”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,” Sarma posted on X.
The state government mentioned after repealing the law, “District Commissioners and District Registrars will be authorized to take custody of registration records currently in the custody of 94 Muslim Marriage Registrars on the repeal of the legislation under the overall supervision, guidance, and control of the Inspector General of Registration.”
The Congress walked out of the House for 10 minutes, against the Cabinet decision.
They maintained that amendments could have been made to the original bill without repealing it altogether.
AIUDF legislators initially raised slogans and stormed into the Well of the House, squatting on the floor for over five minutes.
The party had moved an adjournment motion to discuss the cabinet decision, which was rejected by Speaker Biswajit Daimary.
They also later walked out as the Speaker continued to conduct the listed business of the House.
Opposition CPI(M) legislator and the lone Independent MLA, however, remained in the House.
(With agency inputs)
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Published: 26 Feb 2024, 12:03 PM IST