Last Update: February 05, 2023, 23:01 IST
Owaisi also pointed out that he had recently shared a tweet about an Assamese woman who died by suicide. (Image: News18)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the drive against child marriage launched by the state police the previous day would continue till the next assembly elections in 2026.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday questioned the intention of the Assam government behind the crackdown on child marriage in the state and said the exercise reflected “failure of governance” by the BJP government.
“There is a malicious motive behind all the action that is being taken,” All India The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader said this in a phone interview to PTI when asked about hundreds of arrests in the northeastern state.
Over 2,250 people have been arrested in Assam till Saturday in a crackdown on child marriage, according to an official statement by the state government.
Owaisi, who was in Lucknow to attend the executive committee meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said, “As you know the Child Marriage Prohibition Act was passed in 2006 and it is the BJP government which is is in Power in Assam for the last six years, why didn’t the government put a stop to all this in the last six years? This really shows the failure of his governance. Providing any kind of education,” he alleged.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the drive against child marriage launched by the state police the previous day would continue till the next assembly elections in 2026.
A total of 2,258 people have been arrested across the state so far on the basis of 4,074 FIRs, the Assam government statement said.
Speaking to PTI, Owaisi asked who will now take care of the poor women who have been left in the lurch after the state government’s crackdown on child marriage.
“Who will take care of those poor women now? Forget whether they are Muslims or not Muslims or Hindus? Who will take care of them now? What steps is the government taking to take care of them? … Many of them now have children,” he said.
Owaisi also pointed out that he had recently shared a tweet about an Assamese woman who died by suicide.
“You must remember that over the age of 18, we allow consensual sex. So, what does it mean if at 18 she is having consensual sex and then you are saying that This is child marriage? Even in law it needs to be looked into.”
“This is a government completely biased against Muslims, discriminatory against Muslims. For example, he went on an (anti)-encroachment campaign in which he rendered hundreds of Muslim families homeless in Assam. In upper Assam they give pattas to the landless people, but in lower Assam they do not do so.
The Assam cabinet had recently decided that those marrying girls below the age of 14 would be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
The cabinet also decided that cases would be registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 against those marrying girls in the age group of 14-18 years.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)