India's Parliament Allows Separate Registration of Sikh Marriages

The Tribune (Chandigarh, India) reports that both houses of India's Parliament this week passed a long-pending amendment to the Anand Karaj Act 1909 that will now allow separate registration of Sikh marriages solemnized under the Anand Karaj ritual.  The bill will become law when the President assents to it.  The new law however is only a first step toward Sikhs obtaining separate recognition.  India's Constitution (Art. 25) still defines Sikhs as Hindus.  The new law is not even a full separate Sikh marriage law, since it says nothing about divorce.  It merely will permit the central government to direct states to maintain separate marriage registers for Sikhs and designate separate bodies to register Sikh weddings.