The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Friday moved a notice for adjournment motion in Parliament opposing the government's proposal to raise the age of marriage for women to 21 years calling it an attempt to encroach on Muslim personal law.
“It is learnt that there is a proposal to raise the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 which was cleared by the Union Cabinet recently. There is every reason to believe that it is also an attempt to encroach on Muslim personal law. Government should desist from such a proposal,” wrote IUML Leader and Rajya Sabha MP Abdul Wahab.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised the move. Mr Owaisi posted on Twitter: “This is typical paternalism that we have come to expect from the government. 18-year-old men & women can sign contracts, start businesses, choose Prime Ministers & elect MPs & MLAs but not marry? Supreme Court recognised right to privacy as a fundamental right for adults. The autonomy to take decisions concerning oneself are critical to this fundamental right. In contrast, Modi government decides what we eat, whom or when we marry, what God we worship, etc.”
Samajwadi Party’s Shafiqur Rahman Barq said he would also oppose the move. “India is a poor country and everybody wants to marry off their daughter at an early age. I will not support this Bill in Parliament,” he told reporters.
The move also received flak from Left parties with CPM’s women’s wing, the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) calling it a “diversionary tactic” and an “ineffective” way to bring women empowerment.
“This move to raise the marriageable age is clearly a diversionary tactic from a government which refuses to allocate adequate resources towards nutritional programs like the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme), education and healthcare. If, as has been noted, the nutritional status of women remains low from birth onwards, getting married at 21 and having a child after that cannot improve the condition of maternal and child health or mortality,” AIDWA said in a statement.
Former chief of the Samata Party Jaya Jaitly, who headed a task-force on whose recommendations the government has based its decision, said her report emphasises that raising the age of marriage should be accompanied by improving access to education, providing vocational training and employment opportunities to girls.
“Unless all of the recommendations go with it, there is no justification to raise the age of marriage. We must ensure that legislative changes accompany a gentle process of providing education, health check-ups and strong awareness campaigns. Otherwise, it is like making traffic rules without providing good roads or traffic lights.”
