Amid ‘love jihad’ row, Assam to bring law to make couples declare religion, income

Assam government has mulled to bring an act that will require the bride and groom to declare their religion and income in official documents a month before their marriage.

Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said its aim is to empower women of the state.

Sarma said the proposed law was not entirely like the ‘anti-love jihad laws’ in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, but would be similar.

“Assam’s law is a not against ‘love jihad’. It would be inclusive of all religions and would empower our sisters by bringing transparency…One will have to disclose not only religion, but earning source. Complete family details, education etc. Many a times even in same religion marriage we have found that the girl later finds that the husband is in an illegal business,” ND TV quoted Sarma as saying.

He said law will made mandatory for the man and the woman to disclose their source of income, profession, permanent address and religion in a government-prescribed form a month before the wedding, failing which legal action would be taken.

“Our law will empower women. It will have the some elements of the law in UP and MP,” Sarma asserted.

“Love jihad” is a pejorative used by right-wing groups to target relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women, which, they say, is part of a larger design to forcibly convert the women.

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