GUWAHATI: A Muslim organisation in Assam has backed the state government’s contentious decision to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935.
The Assam unit of Muslim Rashtriya Manch, which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said the decision would bring an end to the decades-old malaise of child marriage in the state.
“This will help the government to bring Muslim boys and girls out of a dangerous situation,” Alkas Hussain, the Manch’s Assam unit convenor, told journalists on Sunday.
He lauded Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his recent statement in the Assembly that his government cannot allow the marriages of girls aged 5-6 years in Assam and that he will shut this shop by 2026.
Hussain slammed a section of Muslim MLAs for their brand of politics, alleging that they had never taken proper care of the Muslim children.
The government decided to repeal the Act as it has a provision that allows the marriage registration of even minors. However, the All India United Democratic Front is not amused.
The minority-based political party has threatened to move the court after claiming that the government decision is against the Kazis Act of 1880 as well as the Kazis. Further, it claimed that the state cabinet has no power to abolish the Kazis Act which is a Central Act.
Hussain also supported the state government’s move to implement the Uniform Civil Code, insisting that one country must have one law. He thanked the Narendra Modi government for banning triple talaq and taking various development initiatives over the past 10 years.
An atmosphere of protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is building in the state following Union home minister Amit Shah’s statement last month that the Act will be notified and implemented before the Lok Sabha elections. The Manch warned Assam would suffer further losses in the event of fresh protests.
“Assam suffered huge losses during the anti-CAA agitation in 2019. Since the matter is in the Supreme Court, I feel that we should wait for the court judgement and honour it,” Hussain said.
He was confident the BJP would win all 11 seats it is contesting in Assam in the Lok Sabha elections. He claimed that people, cutting across communities, were on the side of development.
To a query on the BJP’s decision to not field any Muslim candidate despite the community making up one/third of the state’s population, Hussain said the party selected the 11 after assessing the winnability factor.
“In all likelihood, BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad will field a Muslim candidate in Dhubri, a Muslim-majority constituency,” he said.