Guwahati, 29 Aug

The Assam Assembly on Thursday passed a bill for compulsory government registration of marriage and divorce of Muslim people.

The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill, 2024 was introduced by Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Jogen Mohan on Tuesday.

While replying to queries, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said all earlier registrations of marriages conducted by Kazis will remain valid and only new ones will come under the purview of the legislation.

"We are not interfering with the marriages solemnised by Islamic rituals under Muslim Personnel Law at all. Our only condition is that Islam prohibited marriages will not be registered," he added.

Sarma said with the enactment of this new law, child marriage registration will be completely banned.

In the Statement of Object and Reason, it has been said that the bill has been proposed for prevention of child marriages and marriages without consent of both parties.

It will help check polygamy, enable married women to claim their right to live in matrimonial house, maintenance, etc, and enable widows to claim their inheritance rights and other benefits and privileges which they are entitled to after the death of their husband, Mohan said.

The bill will also prevent men from deserting wives after marriage and strengthen the institution of marriage, he added.

Earlier, Muslim marriages were registered by Kazis. However, this new bill will ensure that all marriages of the community will be registered with the government.