Congress Slams Assam Polygamy Ban, Calls It Politically Motivated

Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly and top Congress leader Debabrata Saikia on Monday criticised the BJP-led state government over its newly approved Bill to ban polygamy, calling the move politically motivated and aimed at projecting false national unity.

Saikia's criticism follows the Assam Cabinet's approval of the Bill on Sunday.

"The BJP wants to show a picture that they have been able to unite India," Saikia said. "The Uniform Civil Code was rightly placed in the Directive Principles of State Policy - to be implemented only when there is consensus among all sections of people. However, the BJP wants to show that they have united India and achieved what Congress could not in 75 years."

He added that excluding tribal and Sixth Schedule areas from the Bill contradicts the BJP's claim of national unity. "That type of narrative does not make you a united India," Saikia remarked.

The Assam Cabinet approved the Bill to prohibit polygamy in the state on Sunday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced after a Cabinet meeting held at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Guwahati.

Sarma said the proposed law will make polygamy a punishable offence, carrying a sentence of up to seven years of imprisonment and a provision for compensation to the victim woman.

However, the Chief Minister clarified that the Bill will not apply to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population and will also not be immediately applicable in the six Scheduled Areas of Assam. "It will apply to everybody except tribals," Sarma stated. He also mentioned that certain exemptions will apply in cases involving minority Muslim residents in Scheduled Areas before 2005, who will remain outside the purview of the law.

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