The Himanta Biswa Sarma government of Assam has approved three laws including the registration of marriage and divorce of Muslims in the state. The new laws will be introduced in the state assembly session. The assembly session is going to start from Thursday 22 August. The other two laws include the protection of heritage sites and tribal land. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that earlier Qazi used to register Muslim marriages and divorces, now government officials will do this work. The purpose of this law is to end child marriage in the state.
Giving information in the matter, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the earlier law regulating the marriages of Muslims, the Assam Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act 1935, will be repealed and replaced by the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Bill-2024.
The earlier law provided for voluntary registration of Muslim marriages and divorces and allowed the government to grant licences authorising a Muslim person to register Muslim marriages and divorces if he applied for such registration. The Cabinet had decided to repeal the existing law in February this year.
CM Himanta Sarma said, “Earlier, Qazis used to register Muslim marriages and divorces. With the implementation of the new law, these will have to be registered by government officials. This will stop when the new law is enacted. This is an attempt to end child marriage in the state.”
Other new law changes
The Himanta cabinet also approved the inclusion of a new provision in the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act, 1886, which deals with religious, cultural and historical importance. “The new provision will restrict the sale and purchase of land within a 5 km radius around constructions older than 250 years only by persons whose family has been living in that area continuously for at least three generations,” Sarma said. The CM said initially three places Barpeta, Batadraba and Majuli (Vaishnav monastery) will be included in the new provision. He said other places may also be included based on suggestions from the public.
CM Sarma further said, “People who have already bought land within 5 km radius of these places will not face any problem. This is a historic development. I wish the previous governments had thought about the safety of these places and made such provisions earlier.”
