Denying religious rights to Muslims: Owaisi

All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Assam government over the cabinet's decision to repeal the British-era Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, saying that such a move distances the community from its religious rights and practices.

Speaking to the reporters, the AIMIM leader said that there's no provision for ‘nikah’ in the special marriage act, which is denying the community its religious right.

"The BJP government in Assam has done away with the Muslim Marriages Act. Earlier,



marriages were registered through ‘qazi’ or marriage registrar, and people used to get the marriage certificates, now they have removed that system. There’s no provision for ‘nikah’ in the special marriage act, which is my religious right. They are trying to distance our community from its religious rights and practices," news agency PTI quoted Owaisi as saying.

The Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935, contained provisions allowing marriage registration even if the bride and groom had not reached the legal ages of 18 and 21, as required by law.