India's Assam state repeals British-era Muslim marriage act

NEW DELHI

A state in northeastern India has decided to abolish a law on Muslim marriage registration and divorce dating back to the British colonial-era, officials said on Saturday.

The move to repeal the 1935 Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act by the Assam state cabinet came late on Friday "as part of efforts to combat underage marriages and bolster the fight against child marriage," state government spokesperson Jayanta Malla Baruah announced.

Assam's Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called it a "significant decision."

Sarma said on X that the proposal to repeal the act was due to it not requiring formal registration of marriage and divorce.

He also said it allowed for "registration marriage of intended persons below 21 years for men and 18 years for females."

Opposition parties, however, have criticized the decision.

"Just before the election, the government is trying to polarize the Hindu voters, depriving and discriminating Muslims in some fields, like repealing the registration and divorce act, saying that it is a pre-independence act of 1935," said Abdur Rashid Mandal, a local head of the main opposition Indian National Congress party.

Stating that assertions that the law allows for child marriage "is not fact," Mandal said it was "the only mechanism to register the marriages of Muslims" in the state.

"There is no other scope or institution and it is also as per the Constitution of India. It is the personal law of the Muslim that can't be repealed," he added.

The repeal came after the northern state of Uttarakhand, also ruled by BJP, passed a Uniform Civil Code, a common set of personal laws binding for all, regardless of faith.

Assam's government has said it intends to introduce the same bill.