On Monday (26th February), Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a fiery speech in the assembly, promised to put an end to child marriages in the state by 2026. He also asserted that he won’t allow child marriages in Assam as long as he is alive.
“Hear me carefully, as long as I am alive, I will not let child marriage take place in Assam. I will not let this happen as long as Himanta Biswa Sarma is alive…I would like to challenge you politically, I will shut down this shop before 2026,” he said while challenging his political opponents during the assembly speech on Monday.
Sarma in a post on X also mentioned specifically that the Congress in Assam was ruining the lives of minor Muslim girls by supporting child marriages for petty political gains and appeasement politics. “I will never allow this business of ruining the lives of minor Muslim girls operate in my state as long as I am alive, Congress should listen this carefully”, he wrote.
कांग्रेस के लोग सुन लें, जब तक मैं, हिमंत बिस्वा सरमा ज़िंदा हूं, तब तक असम में छोटी बच्चियों का विवाह नहीं होने दूँगा। आप लोगों ने मुस्लिम समुदाय की बेटियों को बर्बाद करने की जो दुकान खोली है उन्हें पूरी तरह से बंद किए बिना हम चैन से नहीं बैठेंगे। pic.twitter.com/3yXLi4C23o
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 26, 2024
On Friday, the State Cabinet adopted the Assam Repealing Ordinance, 2024, which repeals the British-era Marriage and Divorce Act that applies only to Muslims. Following the repeal of the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration legislation 1935, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated on Sunday that Muslim women in the state will be relieved of “torture and exploitation,” and that the legislation will also assist in ending child marriage.
“The torture, and exploitation that has been going on against Muslim mothers for so long will be ended with this bill. The Prime Minister ended triple talaq. But in Assam only because of this act, a Kazi would not have been faulted if he had registered the marriage of a below 18-year-old girl and he had gotten bail from the court. Now to give talaq will not be easy after the repeal of this act and there will no registration of marriage below 18 years old girl,” Himanta Biswa Sarma was quoted as saying by ANI.
Speaking about child marriage, the Assam Chief Minister stated that many people were arrested for underage marriage, and others were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison. “After the Lok Sabha election, one more drive against child marriage will be conducted in Assam. I will completely end the issue before 2026,” the Assam Chief Minister said. Meanwhile, AIMIM and other parties have condemned the Assam Chief Minister for abolishing the Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act.
“Now, the BJP people have come, saying that they will bring reforms in Islam. No, you don’t want to bring reforms. You want to implement Hindutva. What is India’s culture? India is a country where people follow several religions and some people are atheists. Thousands of languages are spoken here, not just one,” AIMIM chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi was quoted as saying by ANI.
