Assam Assembly cleared a new Bill annulling a colonial-era Muslim marriage and divorce law. The law makes it binding for all Muslim marriages to be registered with sub-registrars, thus ending the intermediary role played by Qazis in the registration of marriages.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that this move is toward giving better security to Muslim women and combating child marriages across the state. The CM mentioned during the Assembly debate that Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, among other states with substantial Muslim populations, have such a registration law in place. He told the house that in Kerala, such laws must have been framed either by the Congress or by the Left, since the BJP had never come to power there.
Sarma pointed out that the new registration law will bring more safety and security to Muslim women and girls. He appealed to the opposition members for not opposing the Bill and assured it would protect the daughters of Muslims apart from preventing child marriages.
He added that even the Supreme Court has expressed concern about marriage amongst Muslims due to which such a law is all the more relevant. Sarma said the changeover would not affect the Qazis unjustly as most of them are teachers, too. He explained that with only 90 Qazis in Assam, most of whom are dual professionals, their roles would be rendered null under the new law. Nevertheless, he said he is open to discussions with the Qazi community when the law is implemented.
Besides, Sarma said that every marriage has to be registered in view of an order of the Supreme Court, and the state cannot recommend the conventional Qazi system for the purpose.
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