Bill to end polygamy is communal and diversionary tactics, say Assam oppisition parties

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's recent announcement that a Bill to end polygamy in the state will be introduced in the legislative assembly either in the September or January 2024 session has been dubbed by opposition parties as diversionary and communal, especially at a time when suggestions on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) are being received by the Law Commission.

Sarma had recently said pending the decision on UCC, the government wants to take one of its segments, i.e. polygamy, and ban it immediately.

BJP leaders and the chief minister are making communal comments related to the UCC, particularly on the issue of polygamy, AIUDF's organisational general secretary and spokesperson Aminul Islam said.

Read | After crackdown on child marriage, Assam govt to ban polygamy

“They are blaming the Muslim community for following the practice but their statements are not based on facts,” he said.

According to the Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 2019-21, only 1.4 per cent of the country’s population practice polygamy and on the basis of religion, the Muslims account for only 1.9 per cent, the Christians 2.1 per cent and the Hindus 3.1 per cent.

Polygamy among the Scheduled Tribes is 2.4 per cent, Scheduled Castes 1.9 per cent, the OBCs 1.3 per cent and others 1.2 per cent, he pointed out.

He appealed to the government to conduct a nationwide survey on marriages based on religion for the latest data.

In Assam, allegations have been levelled over the years that there is polygamy among the Muslims living in the ‘char’ (riverine) areas, but since Independence, successive governments have neglected the health, education and transportation issues of these areas, Islam said.

“Sarma was also the education, health and finance minister in the previous governments, but he had not taken any initiative for the people of these areas. Educated people do not practice polygamy,” he added.

Congress spokesperson Mira Borthakur told PTI that any kind of forceful imposition with a political motive cannot be successful in a society.

The BJP is trying to bring in the UCC while at the same time the chief minister wants to enact a law to end polygamy in the state which makes no sense, she said.

“How can there be uniformity in a diverse region like the Northeast? If the BJP wants to bring uniformity, the stress should be on education. If people are educated, practices like polygamy will end, but the state government instead is closing government schools,” she said.

The chief minister is an “autocrat who wants to impose certain decisions without taking public opinion into consideration or calling for an all-party meeting,” Borthakur added.

Assam Jatiya Parishad’s general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan told PTI that the current chief minister since assuming office has always tried to deviate from fundamental issues by making controversial statements and there is a difference between tabling a bill, passage and its final execution.

“The leader of the state has to follow the ‘Rajdharma’ (duties of a statesman) by treating all equally, irrespective of the language, religion, caste or creed, but he follows the politics of division, which is not justified in a democratic government,” he said.

In May, the state government had constituted a four-member expert committee, headed by Justice (Retd) Rumi Phukan and the state's Advocate General Debajit Saikia, Additional Advocate General Nalin Kohli and senior Advocate Nekibur Zaman as its members to examine the legal aspects for introducing the Bill.

On completion of two years of his government, the CM had announced that the state will bring in a Bill to end polygamy and the committee will scrutinise the provisions of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937 along with Article 25 of the Constitution in relation to the Directive Principles of State Policy for a Uniform Civil Code.

Assam Advocate General Devajit Saikia told PTI that the committee is examining the various constitutional and statutory provisions of the personal laws and will meet next on July 22 in this regard.

“The committee is primarily examining the legislative competence of the state legislature to enact a law to end polygamy in the state,’’ he said.

Senior lawyer Bijon Mahajan told PTI that a separate anti-polygamy law may be a necessity today, but it will not be so when the Uniform Civil Code becomes operative.

Read | UCC will be implemented in the country, Himanta claims

“The UCC is the need of the hour as it will cover all litigation pertaining to marriage, divorce, succession, inheritance etc, irrespective of religious affiliations. Litigations will not be time-consuming as it is today on these subjects due to separate laws existing in different religions’’, he said.

Gender activist Anjuman Ara Begum told PTI that any reforms in personal law must be carried out with utmost care and not antagonise a particular community by creating social disharmony and further polarisation.

“Instead of a law on polygamy, the government must first implement mandatory marriage registration to protect the rights of women and children before any other reform in personal laws'', she added.