Guwahati: The BJP-led government in Assam has gone the extra mile to protect the rights of children and women. While the government has gone aggressively against the evil practice of child marriages and arrested a total of 5,348 persons for their involvement in child marriages in the last two years, the fact that the government has passed a Bill to protect the rights of women, the Muslim women to be precise--the Assam government has certainly ended the year in a positive note as far as the status of women and children are concerned.
On December 21 the government launched the third crucial phase of its drive against child marriages--in continuation to the first and second drives launched in February and October 2023 --and arrested over 431 persons, ending the year on a promising note to ensure protection to the children and women across the state irrespective of their caste, creed and community.
While the raid on December 21 led to the arrest of 431 persons and registration of 345 cases against child marriages, the other two drives launched in the previous year had led to the arrest of 4,917 persons totalling the arrest of 5,348 persons. While the police had registered 5,842 cases against child marriages since February last year, the data indicates that charge sheets were filed in 95 per cent of the cases.
It may be recalled that a deeply entrenched social evil, child marriage, has long cast a shadow over the state, contributing to alarmingly high rates of infant and maternal mortality.
Often driven by poverty and traditional norms, child marriage has been continuing in many societies in Assam and for generations, young girls were forced into matrimony, often before their bodies were physically mature. This cruel practice has dire consequences--child mothers face a significantly higher risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, leading to increased maternal mortality rates (MMR)--their newborns are also more likely to be born prematurely, underweight, or with congenital conditions, contributing to high infant mortality rates (IMR).
"Assam continues its fight against child marriages. In Phase 3 operations launched on the night of December 21-22, 431 arrests were made and 345 cases registered. The arrested were produced in court on December 21. We will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil," said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on his X handle recently while lauding the drive against child marriages.
"Chargesheets have been filed in 95 per cent of the cases registered till the third phase launched on December 21," said Assam Director General of Police GP Singh.
Singh said that maternal mortality and infant mortality in Assam have reduced since the drive was launched. Disclosing statistics on maternal and infant deaths, the DGP said that while the state had recorded 766 maternal deaths reported in 2021-22, the number was reduced to 372 deaths in 2023-24. Similarly, 7,908 infant deaths were reported in the 2021-22 financial year, which came down to 4,790 deaths in 2023-24," the DGP said.
It may be mentioned that the drive against child marriages was resumed on December 21 as the state government set a target to end child marriages by 2026 when Assam will go for the next Assembly elections.
High MMR and IMR have prompted the Assam government to launch a crackdown on child marriages in 2023. Assam has been struggling for a long time to reduce its high MMR and IMR.
Despite the implementation of several flagship schemes to control the high MMR and IMR, the data indicated that Assam’s MMR for 2014-16 was 237 per 1,00,000 live births against the all-India figure of 130. The state's IMR, was 44 per 1,000 live births in 2017, while the national average was 33 the same year. According to the data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2021, Assam also witnessed an increase in child marriages from 30.8 per cent to 31.8 per cent during 2019-21.
Following the drive against child marriage since last year, the BJP-led government in Assam also passed a bill earlier this year making it mandatory to register the marriages and divorces of Muslims across the state. The Assam cabinet led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has passed the new bill, “Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill 2024” during the August 2024 session of the Assam Legislative Assembly. The Bill nullifies certain provisions of the Muslim Personal Law and it is also a move towards implementing the Uniform Civil Code in Assam.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Bill will pave the way to strengthen the institution of marriage and provide safeguards and benefits of legal presumption, especially to women and prevent the menace of child marriages. The Bill restricts the Kazis (Muslim clerics) from registering marriages and divorce among Muslims.
“Our basic intention is to stop child marriages,” he said, adding that marriages of minor Muslim girls were registered by the Kazis under the existing legal framework. However, the new law will completely restrict the marriages of minors,” Sarma stated.
The Assam Compulsory Registration of Muslim Marriages and Divorces Bill 2024 aims to ban child marriages, ensure consent, protect women's rights, and curb polygamy. This new law of registering Muslim marriages will no longer require the Kazis or Muslim scholars to register marriages, as required under the old law.
"It is a good step and we are happy that the government has decided to go tough against child marriage. Although child marriage is prevalent among Muslims there are, however, other tribes and Hindus among whom also the evil of child marriage is prevalent. The government's action has created a fear psychosis among the people and the tendency is decreasing these days," said Rafiqul Islam, an anti-child marriage activist in Assam's Barpeta district.
Islam said that it is not that child marriage has stopped already. "It is happening but not happening ceremoniously like earlier, the government action proved to have brought results but it will take some time to have a complete stop," he said adding that poverty and lack of education have mostly contributed towards the child marriage in Assam.
Rafiqul, who had helped stop thousands of child marriages across different districts in Assam, said that women and children belonging to all communities, especially the religious minority community will greatly benefit from the move.
