Telangana State Wakf Board holds meeting on Marriage Bill

A meeting of Qazis was organised by the Telangana State Wakf Board on Tuesday to discuss about ‘The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Act 2021’.

Several Qazis and social workers attended the meeting which discussed the apprehensions within the community over the recent Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Act. The Lok Sabha had cleared it and referred it to a committee for scrutiny. The bill proposes to increase the marriage age of a girl from the existing 18 years to 21 years.

Following the developments, panic gripped several families where marriages of girls



below the age of 21 years were already fixed to be held later this year. Several families had rushed with the marriages for fear of the bill coming into force overnight. Telangana State Wakf Board chairman Mohammed Saleem, allaying fears, said it was clearly mentioned in the Bill that after the accent was accorded by the President of India, there is still two years of time period for it to come into force.

“There is no need for people to hurry with marriages,” he said, also requesting Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao not to support the Bill.