How Himanta Biswa Sarma is preparing pitch for Uniform Civil Code in Assam

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the move will help the government prevent child marriages in the state.

In a big push towards a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the Assam government has decided to repeal the personal law governing marriages and divorces among Muslims.

The state cabinet, which met late on Friday night, approved the Assam Repealing Ordinance, 2024, for repealing the British-era marriage and divorce Act specific to Muslims. The ordinance will repeal the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act. This will now bring all such matters under the Special Marriage Act.

The State government had earlier announced that proposed law on UCC will exempt tribal people.

With Uttarakhand becoming the first state to pass a UCC law earlier this month, Assam has been hinting at bringing a similar law.

There's a growing buzz that the Himanta Biswa Sarma government may introduce a UCC bill during ongoing Budget session that ends on February 28. Muslims constitute 34 percent of the northeastern state’s population, according to the 2011 Census.

A Uniform Civil Code involves a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all citizens. Currently, different religious communities are governed by their own codes of personal law.

Here's what will change after the law is repealed:

The Repealing of the Act – what it means?

The repealing of the act means that every Muslim couple who wishes to voluntarily register their marriage, or get divorced within the jurisdiction of Assam will have to do so via the Special Marriage Act 1954 route.

The minimum legal age for marriage under the SMA is as follows: 21 for boys, and 18 for girls. So essentially, Muslim child marriages in Assam will no longer have provision for legal sanctity.

An attempt to formalise registration

The current law allows voluntary registration of marriages and divorces among Muslims. It is not mandatory under the law to register such instances. Himanta Biswa Sarma said the registration machinery too is informal which provides for a scope for non-compliance with extant norms.

Will the new ordinance prevent child marriage?

Certain provisions in the current law allow marriages to be registered even if the bride and the groom have not reached the legal age of 18 and 21.  Assam Chief Minister also added that its scrapping will mark a significant step towards stopping child marriages in Assam.

Streamlining things for the bureaucracy

Assam Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said that District Commissioners and District Registrars will be authorised to take custody of registration records currently in the custody of 94 Muslim Marriage Registrars on repeal of the legislation under overall supervision, guidance and control of the Inspector General of Registration, Assam. One-time compensation of 2 lakh will be provided to Muslim Marriage Registrars for their rehabilitation after the Act is repealed.

Also Read: Assam scraps colonial-era Muslim marriage law

No more Muslim registrars

Muslim registrars holding licenses to register marriages and divorces in the community won't be able to register marriages and divorces once the law is repealed.

Assam's crackdown on child marriage

In February 2023, Assam Police launched a crackdown on child marriages with retributive arrests, nabbing more than 4,000 persons under either the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act or the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. Earlier this month, the Chief Minister said that a bill to end polygamy in the state will be introduced in the Assembly during the Budget session.

How Opposition parties have reacted to the move

Badruddin Ajmal — head of the AIUDF, whose primary support base is Bengali-speaking Muslims in the state — told reporters on the sidelines of an event: “They want to provoke Muslims and polarise their votes, which Muslims will not allow…. This is the first step towards introducing UCC but it will bring the death of the BJP.”

Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia argued that far from putting a stop to “illegal marriages”, repealing the act would result in more.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, president of the Assam Jatiya Parishad & General Secretary of the United Opposition Forum also accused the state government of politicising a sensitive matter.