Move to repeal 89-year-old law comes amid opposition from minority community leaders
The Indian state of Assam, under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has repealed a colonial-era law governing underage marriages in the Muslim community, just months before the general elections of the country.
The move to repeal the 89-year-old law came amid opposition from minority community leaders, who called it an attempt to polarize voters along religious lines ahead of the election.
The government of Assam, which has one of the largest Muslim contingents in India, at 34% of the population, said the repeal of the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, came into force immediately from of Saturday.
The move is part of the ruling party's attempt to implement uniform civil laws for marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance, but Muslims oppose it. The state of Uttarakhand also made such an amendment to the laws earlier this month.
“This law contained provisions allowing registration of marriage even if the bride and groom had not attained the legal ages of 18 and 21… This move marks another significant step towards banning child marriages in Assam,” the Chief Minister wrote of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, in X on Saturday.
“Defender of ethnic communities” is how the BJP calls itself, but Muslim leaders consider this latest measure to be discriminatory.
“They want to polarize their voters by provoking Muslims, which Muslims will not allow to happen,” Badruddin Ajmal, an Assam lawmaker who heads the All India United Democratic Front that fights primarily for Muslim causes, told reporters on Saturday. .
