The Assam Cabinet on Sunday approved the draft of a bill seeking to ban polygamy in the state, a move that critics say is aimed at criminalising practices protected under Muslim personal law.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has for long campaigned for such a ban, announced that the proposed Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025 will be tabled in the Assembly on November 25.
Those convicted under the law could face imprisonment of up to seven years.
Sarma said the draft legislation exempts Scheduled Tribe communities from its purview. It will also not “immediately” apply to areas under the Bodoland Territorial Council, the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, and the Dima Hasao Autonomous Council, which function under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
These provisions guarantee land protection and limited autonomy to tribal-dominated regions.
In effect, the law will apply primarily to the non-tribal population, a category that, in Assam’s social composition, largely includes the state’s Muslim residents.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
