Govt focus on banning polygamy, boosting women empowerment, says Assam CM
New Delhi, August 28
BJP-led Assam is not for a full or comprehensive Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and is only concerned with provisions and legislative measures to ensure equality and empowerment of women irrespective of faith. This was stated on Wednesday by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who said the state was not going in for a “comprehensive UCC”.
“We are only interested in ensuring women’s empowerment by cracking down on child marriage, by bringing a Bill to ban polygamy and ensuring Muslim women register their marriages with the district administration instead of religious preachers,” Sarma said.
He said the state government’s top agenda until April next year include piloting a Bill to ban polygamy and another to bar sale of land outside a community.
“This means a person from the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe will be able to sell the land only to a person from his or her respective community. The Bill will allow intra-community land sale but prevent inter-community land sale. This will protect community land from big business,” said Sarma.
“Hindu-dominated villages have become Muslim-dominated and yet there is complete communal harmony in these villages. But the reverse is not true,” he said.
Oppn files plaint against CM
The opposition parties of Assam, meanwhile, filed a police complaint againt Sarma accusing him of promoting enmity based on religion and race. They accused Sarma of attempting to incite communal tension by targeting a specific community, potentially leading to riot-like situations in the state.
Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of the United Opposition Forum Assam (UOFA), filed the complaint at Dispur police station. He was accompanied by other opposition leaders.
Meanwhile, Sarma today said the government will file a case against University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya Vice-Chancellor Mahbabul Haque for obtaining an OBC certificate fraudulently from state’s Karimganj district 32 years ago.
