'Muslims will follow Shariat': Samajwadi Party MP's response after Himanta Sarma's law repeal move

As Himanta Sarma-led Assam govt repeals Muslim marriages Act, SP MP Hasan says rituals being followed for thousands of years will continue to be followed

Reacting to the Assam government's approval to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, Samajwadi Party MP ST Hasan said on Saturday that Muslims will follow only Shariat and Quran.

Samajwadi Party MP HT Hasan. (X)

"There is no need to highlight this so much. Muslims will follow Shariat and Quran. They (the government) may draft as many Acts as they want...Every religion has its own rituals. They are being followed for thousands of years now. They will continue to be followed," he told ANI.

Congress leader Abdur Rashid Mandal called it a "discriminatory decision".

"Overall it is a discriminatory decision of the cabinet of Assam because the govt was talking about the UCC and banning polygamy but they failed to do so (bringing the UCC and banning polygamy) for unknown reasons. Just before the election, they're trying to polarise the Hindu voters in favour of BJP by depriving and discriminating Muslims in some fields like repealing this act saying that this is a pre-independence act and citing child marriage which is not a fact. This is the only mechanism to register the marriages of Muslims and 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 It is the personal law of the Muslim that can't be repealed... I'll discuss it with the leaders of my party and my party will speak about it," he said.

"This government doesn't have the courage to bring UCC. They can't do it. What they brought in Uttarakhand, is not UCC either...They were trying to bring UCC to Assam too. But I think they can't bring it to Assam because there are people from several castes and communities here...BJP followers themselves follow those practices here," he told ANI.

He said the BJP government is employing these tactics because the elections are approaching.

"Elections are approaching, this is just their tactics to target Muslims. So, they couldn't bring any Bill on polygamy or UCC in Assam...So, they are repealing the Assam Muslim Marriages & Divorces Registration Act. The Assam cabinet doesn't have the right to repeal or amend a constitutional right," he added.

What is the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act?

The Assam cabinet on Friday gave the nod to repeal the British Raj-era law.

"This Act contained provisions allowing marriage registration even if the bride and groom had not reached the legal ages of 18 and 21 respectively, as required by law. This move marks another significant step towards prohibiting child marriages in Assam," the chief minister posted on X.

The law gives authority to Muslim registrars to register voluntary declaration of marriages and divorces.

After this law is repealed, the district authorities will take over the custody of the registration records held by 94 Muslim marriage registrars.

Registration of marriages and divorces is not mandatory as per the Act and the machinery of registration is informal, leaving a lot of scope for non-compliance with extant norms, the government said, PTI reported.

The Uttarakhand government earlier this month got the UCC bill passed in the state assembly. The bill seeks to replace personal religious laws governing marriage, divorces and inheritance, with a common set of rules applicable to all religions equally. Several Muslim bodies, however, pointed out that tribals were exempted from the ambit of the legislation.

Himanta Biswa Sarma has vowed that Assam will be the third state after Uttarakhand and Gujarat to implement the Uniform Civil Code. In January, he said it would take two-three months to table the bill. He also said that he plans to keep tribals out of the purview of the planned law.