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UK Asians can no longer choose their marriage venues
by Mike Lockey

     London: British Asians are up in arms over a Home Office move to introduce new regulations that effectively ban them from getting married in certain parts of the country. Certain register offices in England and Wales are reportedly being taken off the official list of places where foreigners can marry and the government is doing to curtail sham marriages. How such a move will be achieved is anyone's guess. Dr. Reefat Drabu, who is the social affairs spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain, is just one of many who are furious at the introduction of the new regulations. "It is a law that will pick on a few minorities. It is a bit of a racist approach to the perceived problem if you think about who it will affect. It is indirect discrimination," Drabu told ANI in an interview. "It's a wholly disproportionate response to the problem. It sounds like an attempt to corner a group of people who are just trying to get on with their lives," adds Arun Kundnani, a spokesman for the Institute of Race Relations. But the Home Office insists that something had to be done, alleging that in London for example, one in five marriages is a sham.

     To counter this, foreigners who do not hold a European passport will be banned from getting married in four boroughs and there will be designated register offices in neighbouring areas where anyone else can tie the knot. And the new regulations don't stop with the register office rules. Now, anybody who is subject to immigration control will not be able to get married unless they have entry clearance specifically for such a marriage, or have written permission from the Home Secretary to get married. Further, people who are allowed to get married in a register office will now face heavy questioning there, which sounds like a really fun addition to that special day, guaranteed to make it even more memorable. But when was romance any business of the Home Office? As Des Browne, a minister at the department has said: "It is part of the government's ongoing work to tackle sham marriages, including a stepping up of enforcement activity, which has seen a number of successful operational results".

China's Jiang resigns from state military body (Go To Top)

     Beijing: China's former supreme leader Jiang Zemin formally handed in his resignation from the largely ceremonial position as chairman of the state Central Military Commission (CMC), official media said today. It was his last high-level post in the government apparatus, and marks his final step into full retirement, The News quoted, official media as saying. Jiang's letter of resignation was read out at a meeting of the presidium of the National People's Congress (NPC) which begins its annual full meeting on Saturday, the local news agency reported. The presidium adopted a draft resolution to accept Jiang's resignation, according to the agency. The formal vote on the draft resolution is set to take place Tuesday, once the NPC's meetings have got underway, according to a schedule for this year's proceedings.

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