Muslims protest plan to make marriage registration mandatory
Muslims have started protesting against the Uttar Pradesh government's plan to make marriage registration mandatory and termed it as 'un-Islamic'. "Muslim marriages are only registered at the office of the Waqf board of UP as per the Nikahnama documents," Muslim leader Haji Jameeluddin said. "There is no need to register marriages again merely to satisfy a government's whim," he added.
As the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to make marriage registration mandatory, Muslims are getting ready to come out on the roads in protest of this 'un-Islamic' move.Talking to India Today on this issue, Muslim leader Haji Jameeluddin said the Muslim community cannot accept the UP government's edict to register Muslim marriages at the marriage registrar's office as Muslim marriages are only registered at the office of the Waqf board of UP as per the Nikahnama documents.He said Muslim marriages are already registered according to the Sharia law and there was no need to register them again merely to satisfy a government's whim.He said the attention of both the Centre and the state governments have shifted from development and crime control to such frivolous issues. This is merely to divert the attention of the people from the issues raging before the country, which the Muslims will not tolerate.Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad chairman Sami Aghai said that the Yogi government seeks to keep the Hindus and Muslims of UP tied up in such petty issues so that they never raise their demand for development. He said that similar issue came up during the Samajwadi Party government as well but the Muslims did not let it gain prominence with their protests and the Akhilesh Yadav government had to shelve this topic.Former president of the Muslim wing of Samajwadi Party Md Yaseen Qureshi said  Muslim marriages get registered at the time they are solemnised so Muslims do not need an additional registration, whereas most Hindu marriages are conducted without any paperwork.Mufti Mudassar Ali Qadri said that Muslim marriages are conducted according to Sharia, which is why the Muslim personal law has been defined separately in the Indian Constitution. The Qazi who conducts these marriages is registered with the state government and he has to present the statistics of marriages conducted by him in a year to the state government, he said.However, BJP leader Ashfaq Saifi claimed that since the order had not been given by the state government, but it was given by the Supreme Court, the Muslims as well as the state government, were duty bound to honour the Court's will. He said that some Muslim leaders are unnecessarily dragging the name of Yogi Adityanath in this matter, whereas the Chief Minister has issued an order to make all the marriages mandatory, irrespective of the religion. The rules are still being prepared by the women welfare department of the state government and as soon as the rules are ready, they will be brought into effect.Saifi said that whoever declines to obey these rules, shall be barred from availing government benefits, while those who register their marriages after a delay, shall be liable for a fine.Clearing confusion on this issue, senior advocate Md Arif said if a Muslim deposits his Nikahnama at the registrar's office, it will be deemed as a marriage registration and even if that copy is deposited by the Qazi who conducted the Nikah, the registration will be deemed effective.