In order to transfer accountability from traditional Kazis to government officials, the Assam administration, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, intends to present a law in the state parliament that would require government registration of Muslim weddings and divorces. In order to prevent child marriage, this bill—known as the Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim weddings Divorces Bill, 2024—aims to make sure that no weddings are recorded by anybody under the age of 18.
However, a number of political figures and parties, notably the AIUDF and Congress, have strongly opposed the initiative. They contend that interference by the government in matters of faith, like marriage and divorce, is against Shariat, the Islamic law, and is an attempt to persecute the Muslim population. These officials fiercely oppose the government’s effort to overturn the current religiously-based marriage regulations, even as they favor modifying measures pertaining to child marriage. They promise to demonstrate and oppose this alleged violation of religious liberty, stressing that Muslim weddings need to be regulated by the Quran and Hadith rather than by the judiciary or the government.
