Skip to main content

Eliminating child marriage? Why is Assam CM so restive despite abuse of law allegation

By Nava Thakuria* 

By 2026, will the Assam government eliminate the menace of child marriage, if one goes by State chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s "commitment"? The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Dispur claims to be fighting against the social evil in the State with full political will. Child marriage is a social scourge, and the State government is committed to ensure the evil practice is stopped, states Sarma.
The saffron leader has attracted national and international media headlines with a major crackdown on child marriages launching on 3 February. Assam police forces picked up over 3,000 individuals (including 93 females) following 4,235 registered first information reports across the State. Most of them are still in judicial custody (temporary jails), some got bail and a few remain in the police custody.
The arrested individuals, include mostly the accused and perpetrators, are not targeted because of their religious affiliations, claimed Sarma, adding that the ongoing drive against this social menace will continue till 2026, the year Assam is scheduled to go for the next legislative assembly elections. He also claimed that the crackdown has positively impacted the society as several families lately cancelled pre-scheduled marriages of underage brides (also grooms).
Needless to mention that Sarma is one of the longest serving State health ministers. He took the charge of Assam health ministry in 2006 and continued till 2015 (during the Congress rule). Later he joined the BJP and again took the responsibility in 2016 for a full five years. His tireless efforts to save the lives during the Covid-19 pandemic were well appreciated. In May 2021, he took oath as the State CM and started many missions that remained unaccomplished in previous years. Sarma’s latest priority emerges to bring down mother & infant mortality rates in Assam.
Pointing out that the child marriage is banned in India for nearly a century as it always threatens the lives, well-being and futures of girls, Sarma announced his decision on 26 January to erase the social menace. Later the State cabinet approved the proposal to take stern actions against those men who married underage girls under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Recently, a cabinet sub-committee for taking care of child marriage victims was also formed.
Recent data from the National Family Health Survey reflects that Assam continues to record higher number of child marriages as well as cases of teenage pregnancy than all India levels. It is established that the child marriage in the State has directly influenced the mother and infant mortality rates. Assam loses around 195 mothers among 100,000 during the child births (national average is 97 deaths per 100,000 live births). Similarly, it records 36 infant deaths per 1,000 live births (where national average is 28).
The drive against child marriages, though getting wide support, invited massive public outrages from different corners, and at least two victims of circumstance committed suicides fearing impending police actions. Hundreds of young women (some may have attained minimum legal age of marriage ie 18 years) gathered in the police stations crying for their husbands' release. Many lodged protest demonstrations against the administrative action towards their ‘innocent’ husbands and relatives.
Guwahati High Court criticized the government for detaining people with non-bailable charges under the POCSO Act, rape, etc. 
Opposition parties including the Congress, Asom Jatiya Parishad, All India United Democratic Front, etc. also criticized the action terming it an abuse of law for political gains. AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi came down heavily against the BJP-led government for the mass arrests concerning the unlawful marriages. They alleged that the drive was planned to harass the Muslim families in the State. Owaisi also questioned CM Sarma about the fate of girls and women whose husbands were taken into custody.
The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation also urged the government to immediately sanction at least Rs 2,000 per month (from the CM’s relief fund) as financial assistance to the affected teenagers/women whose husbands have been detained or arrested. The foundation, even though supports the government initiatives to eradicate the menace of child marriage by penalizing the perpetrators, insisted on extending due financial and legal supports to the victims. It also asked the concerned authorities not to ignore the children born out of child marriages.
Even the higher court in Guwahati criticized the government for detaining all these people with non-bailable charges under the POCSO Act, rape, etc. and creating havoc in their private lives. Granting the anticipatory bail to a group of individuals over the crime, Gauhati High Court observed that there was no need for custodial interrogation of the accused persons. It termed the mass arrest of individuals as a bad idea considering the children and elder members in their families. The court emphasized a society-driven change over the issue than adopting punitive actions.
Unmoved by the criticism, Sarma recently claimed that the stringent step, first of its kind in India by any State government, received necessary support from various sections in the society including the religious minority leaders. With an aim to pursue zero tolerance against this social menace, he emphasized on a robust ecosystem in Assam against the illegal practice of child marriage. He insisted, that the government and law enforcement agencies along with the village heads, self-help groups, etc. must be made the stakeholders in the ecosystem.
---
*Senior journalist based in Assam

Comments

TRENDING

'Draconian' Kerala health law follows WHO diktat: Govt readies to take harsh measures

By Dr Maya Valecha*  The Governor of Kerala has signed the Kerala Public Health Bill, which essentially reverses the people’s campaign in healthcare services in Kerala for decentralisation. The campaign had led to relinquishing of state powers in 1996, resulting in improvement of health parameters in Kerala. Instead, now, enforcement of law through the exercise of power, fines, etc., and the implementation of protocol during the pandemic, are considered of prime importance.

Reject WHO's 'draconian' amendments on pandemic: Citizens to Union Health Minister

By Our Representative  Several concerned Indian citizens have written to the Union Health Minister to reject amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted during the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA75) in May 2022, apprehending this will make the signatories surrender their autonomy to the “unelected, unaccountable and the whimsical WHO in case of any future ‘pandemics’.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Bihar rural women entrepreneurs witness 50% surge in awareness about renewal energy

By Mignonne Dsouza*  An endline survey conducted under the Bolega Bihar initiative revealed a significant increase in awareness of renewable energy among women, rising from 25% to 76% in Nalanda and Gaya. Renu Kumari, a 34-year-old entrepreneur from Nalanda, Bihar, operates a village eatery that serves as the primary source of income for her family, including her husband and five children. However, a significant portion of her profits was being directed toward covering monthly electricity expenses that usually reach Rs 2,000. 

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Work with Rajasthan's camel herders: German scientist wins World Cookbook Award 2023

By Rosamma Thomas*  Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are the only awards for international food culture. This year, German scientist  Ilse Kohler Rollefson , founder of Camel Charisma, the first of India’s camel dairies, in Pali district of Rajasthan, won the award for her work with camel herders in Rajasthan, and for preparing for the UN International Year of Camelids, 2024. 

Why is electricity tariff going up in India? Who is the beneficiary? A random reflection

By Thomas Franco*  Union Ministry of Power has used its power under Section 11 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to force States to import coal which has led to an increase in the cost of electricity production and every consumer is paying a higher tariff. In India, almost everybody from farmers to MSMEs are consumers of electricity.

Golwalkar's views on tricolour, martyrs, minorities, caste as per RSS archives

By Shamsul Islam*  First time in the history of independent India, the in-charge minister of the Cultural Ministry in the current Modi government, Prahlad Singh Patel, has glorified MS Golwalkar, second supremo of the RSS and the most prominent ideologue of the RSS till date, on his birth anniversary, February 19. In a tweet he wrote : “Remembering a great thinker, scholar, and remarkable leader #MSGolwalkar on his birth anniversary. His thoughts will remain a source of inspiration & continue to guide generations.”

'Pro-corporate agenda': Odisha crackdown on tribal slum dwellers fighting for land rights

By Our Representative  The civil rights network Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), even as condemning what it calls “brutal repression” on the Adivasi slum dwellers of Salia Sahi in Bhubaneshwar by the Odisha police, has said that the crackdown was against the tribals struggling for land rights in order to “stop the attempts at land-grab by the government.”

Deplorable, influential sections 'still believe' burning coal is essential indefinitely

By Shankar Sharma*  Some of the recent developments in the power sector, as some  recent news items show, should be of massive relevance/ interest to our policy makers in India. Assuming that our authorities are officially mandated/ committed to maintain a holistic approach to the overall welfare of all sections of our society, including the flora, fauna and general environment, these developments/ experiences from different parts of the globe should be clear pointers to the sustainable energy pathways for our people.