Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that the government is intending to ban polygamy in the state."For that purpose, an expert committee will be formed that will look at whether the state legislature can be empowered to introduce any such law," he stated.
The committee would look into the provisions of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act of 1937 in conjunction with Article 25 of the Indian Constitution - the guiding principle of state policy, Sarma said at a presser in Guwahati.
He mentioned that the expert committee will undertake lengthy conversations with all stakeholders, including legal experts, in order to make an educated judgment."We are not moving towards implementing Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which requires consensus in the country, and only the Central government can take a decision in this regard," he stated.
However, Sarma made it clear that the state government has been announcing its intention to ban polygamy in the state as one component of the UCC.The Chief Minister also mentioned that a ban on polygamy will be introduced only after having a consensus among the different sections of the society.
Meanwhile, Sarma also talked about the crackdown of the state government on child marriages.According to him, many older men marry young girls before they attain the minimum age of marriage taking advantage of the poor family condition of the girls.
"We have noticed this fact during our crackdown on child marriages. That is why, we have decided to ban polygamy to have a more effective outcome to attain zero child marriage in Assam," he added.