Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has constituted a three-member panel to draft the proposed law to end polygamy in the state. The members of this committee are Advocate General Devjit Saikia, Legal Advisor Kuntal Sharma Pathak and Director General of Police Gyanendra Pratap Singh. .The Assam government had earlier constituted a committee headed by former Gauhati High Court judge Rumi Phukan (retd.) to examine the legislative power of the state legislature to enact anti-polygamy laws.The committee headed by Justice Phukan Said that the government has the right to ban polygamy.
The state government has sought public opinion on the proposed anti-polygamy law. Of the 149 individuals and organizations that responded, 146 supported the move. The committee will prepare a draft for the anti-polygamy bill in 45 days by December 2023. Justice Phukan The panel had examined the provisions of Article 25 of the Constitution of India as well as the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937 in relation to the Directive Principles of State Policy for a Uniform Civil Code. Many cases of polygamy have been reported in Jamunamukh and Hojai. There is a large population of Bengali speaking Muslims in these areas.
Polygamy
- Polygamy is a practice in which a man or woman marries more than one person.
- Polygamy is made up of two words, ‘Bahu’ meaning ‘many’ and ‘Gamos’ meaning ‘marriage’.
- Polygamy refers to the type of marriages in which a person marries more than one person.
- In polygamy, a woman or man has more than one marital partner at the same time.
Polygamy in india
- In a survey conducted on a sample of one lakh marriages in the 1961 census of India, it was reported that the percentage of polygamy among Muslims was only 5.7 percent, which was the highest in India.
- In the 2019-2020 data of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), it was reported that the practice of polygamy still continues in 1.3 percent of the population of Hindus, 1.9 percent of Muslims and 1.6 percent of other religious groups.
- After analyzing the data of the last 15 years of the National Family Health Survey, the Mumbai-based International Institute of Population Studies had said in its report that the rate of polygamy is higher among the poor, uneducated and rural sections.
- Apart from region and religion, socio-economic issues also play an important role in such cases.