Assam eyes polygamy-ban law, to form panel

GUWAHATI: The BJP-led Assam government has decided to set up an expert committee to examine whether polygamy can be banned in the state by enacting a law. The move is seen as an attempt to provide a major push to women empowerment as the state government steps into its third year from Thursday.
CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, on the eve of completing his second year in office, said on Tuesday the prevalence of polygamy, both formal and informal, was found to be high during the crackdown on child marriage in the state since January.
Polygamy is generally prohibited in all religious communities in India, except the Muslim community. India is a signatory to international conventions and covenants like the UN Committee on Civil and Political Rights, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women which notes that polygamy violates the dignity of women and should be abolished wherever it exists.
“Assam has decided to form an expert committee to examine whether the legislature is empowered to prohibit polygamy in the state. The committee will examine the provisions of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937, read with Article 25 of the Constitution of India, in relation to the Directive Principles of State Policy for a Uniform Civil Code,” Sarma said.
“We are not going towards a Uniform Civil Code. But in Assam, as one component of the UCC, we want to declare polygamy unconstitutional through a state act,” he added.
“Polygamy in earlier times happened with the consent of the man’s present wife in certain situations. Monogamy is a rule and polygamy is an exception,” he said.
“We do not want to hurry with the law. We want to discuss with Islamic scholars and intellectuals as a consensus-building activity rather than a kind of provocation,” Sarma added.