Guwahati: The opposition parties in Assam on Monday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government for its bid to enact polygamy in the state, terming it to be “purely a political move.”

Senior Congress leader and leader of opposition in the Assam assembly Debabrata Saikia said “The minority commission in its report submitted to the central government earlier had stated that the allegation of Muslims in the state having a larger family is not true. It is purely a political move to appease a section of the society.”

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“It was not necessary to impose the law as there has already been a proposal of bringing in the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and when it will be enacted, then all the provisions will be covered under it. My opinion is that it should not be forced on the people and enacting such a law should be with proper discussion, mutual respect and consent of all concerned, Saikia said.”

“Assam already being in the concurrent list, with the central government having plans of bringing in the UCC, it was not necessary for the state government to be proactive in enacting polygamy so hastily, he further said.”

On the other hand, reacting to the matter, senior All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Aminul Islam said, “Enacting polygamy in the state is a personal decision of the BJP. The prime agenda of the Assam government is to target the Muslim community and to prove that it has suppressed the community in issues like tripal talak and hijab. Now the saffron party wants to win the hearts of the masses by bringing in polygamy.”

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The Assam government on Sunday said that it has formed an expert committee to examine the legislative competence of the state legislature to enact a law to end polygamy in the state.

Earlier on May 11 this year, the state government had constituted a four-member expert committee to examine the legislative competence of state legislature to enact a law to end polygamy.

The expert committee comprised of Justice (Retired) Rumi Kumari Phukan as the chairperson, Assam Advocate General Debajit Saikia and Additional Advocate General Nalin S Kohli as members, and Nekibur Zaman as Advocate.

The committee had then been given a deadline of 60 days to submit its report.

Prior to this, Chief Minister Sarma had announced that the state government will move to ban the practice of polygamy in Assam through “legislative action”.

Sarma had then said that this committee, comprising legal experts and scholars, would examine the provisions of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Act, 1937 read with Article 25 of the Constitution of India; the directive principle of state policy.

He also emphasized that the ban on polygamy would be achieved through consensus and not aggression.

Polygamy is a kind of marriage in which a spouse of either sex may have more than one mate at the same time.