The Assam authorities will transfer to ban the observe of polygamy by way of “legislative motion”, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma mentioned on Tuesday.
Talking at a press convention in Guwahati to mark the second anniversary of his authorities, Sarma mentioned that an “knowledgeable committee” can be fashioned to look at whether or not the state legislature was empowered to ban polygamy. This committee, comprising authorized consultants and students, would look at the provisions of the Muslim Private Legislation (Shariat) Act, 1937 learn with Article 25 of the Structure of India — the directive precept of state coverage, he mentioned.
He emphasised that the ban can be achieved “by way of consensus and never aggression”. “We might be consulting intellectuals, Islamic students, elders… so this can be a consensus constructing exercise, moderately than a provocation,” mentioned Sarma, who had confronted criticism for a crackdown on baby marriage in February earlier this 12 months.
Sarma on Tuesday mentioned that through the mentioned crackdown, the authorities discovered that many aged males received “married a number of instances”, and sometimes to minor women. “Subsequently crackdown towards baby marriage isn’t the one answer, banning polygamy can be necessary,” he mentioned.
The Assam CM mentioned that the federal government would proceed the extraordinary motion on baby marriage. “There have been might be collection of arrests and clampdown on baby marriage in an intensive operation,” he mentioned.
In a current marketing campaign for the Karnataka meeting elections, Sarma had batted for implementation of a Uniform Civil Code for equal rights for Muslim ladies. In a rally, he had alleged that males from the neighborhood “marry 4 instances”, which had made ladies “child-producing machines”. Nonetheless, in Guwahati. Sarma mentioned that the federal government was not going in the direction of UCC to implement the state’s polygamy ban. “For UCC, a nationwide consensus is required. We’re asserting our intention to ban polygamy within the state as one part of the UCC,” he mentioned.
Sarma mentioned that the observe was much less “amongst educated individuals”.“It’s hardly there among the many indigenous Assamese Muslim neighborhood… It’s there in locations like Barak Valley, Hojai… Jamunamukh.” Muslims make up a good portion of the inhabitants in these areas.