By Asma Torgal

ON January 23, 2023 Assam Chief Minister Biswa Sharma announced that the state government will launch a drive against child marriage. Men marrying girls below 14 years of age will be booked under the POSCO Act, and those marrying girls aged 14-18, will be booked under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. The police crackdown against child marriages began across the state on February 3, with over 4,000 cases registered to date.
Within two days the Assam police started the operation and have arrested over 2,528 people, including priests who officiated at these weddings. Seventy-eight women were among those arrested. The DGP of the area said that the biggest challenge for the force now is filing charge sheets within the stipulated timeframe.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier asserted that the drive will continue till the 2026 Assembly election. Biswa shared a report on Twitter showing the rate of teenage pregnancies in 2022. According to the report out of the 620,867 total pregnancies reported in the year 2022, 104,264 were teenage mothers. According to reports by the National Family Health Survey, Assam also has a high rate of maternal and infant mortality, with child marriage being the primary cause.

A PRE-POLL CRACKDOWN?
OPPOSITION parties have lashed out at the BJP-led government in Assam, terming the campaign for political gain and comparing the police action with terrorising people. Opposition leaders have also called the drive absurd, alleging that it unequally targets Muslims.
Congress spokespersons claim that Biswa Sharma is misusing the law with this drive against child marraige. Assam Congress Chief Bhupen Kumar Borah told PTI, “Earlier, our government had passed the law against child marriage. But the BJP government is misusing the law for their political gain. It has created a panic throughout the state.”
Assam Jatiya Parishad Chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi alleged that the government went ahead with the crackdown without assessing its impact on the people. While the Trinamool Congress chief Ripun Bora claimed that the law was being abused in Assam by the chief minister on the pretext of discouraging child marriage and teenage pregnancies. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi pointed out that the Assam government should have concentrated on increasing literacy levels if it was truly concerned about the problem of child marriages.

PROTEST OVER CAMPAIGN
OUTRAGE and protests in parts of Assam against the arrest gained momentum over the weekend. Hundreds of women have been protesting in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam which has even led to one woman committing suicide. Despite widespread criticism from Opposition leaders who called the move a “publicity stunt,” Chief Minister Himanta has declared that the ongoing crackdown on child marriages in the state is unlikely to stop.

CAT OUT OF BAG
CHIEF Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says that his government’s “war” is against child marriage and doesn’t target one community. But why has Assam’s CM, suddenly realised that the need to stop the heinous crime has to be considered as an utmost priority? What has the government been doing for the past seven years since it has been in power? How suddenly the idea of implementing this law is overactive now? And what special steps have been taken for the education of girls or to make society aware of the evils and problems of child marriage?
Out of the blue the CM wants to teach a lesson to people responsible for child marriages, probably the ones who are already living a life as a father and husband. The chief minister was also the education minister before becoming the CM, he must have been aware of the situation in the state when it came to the prevalence of child marriages. So what the political leaders have been saying about the government targeting a certain community should be considered as true?
During the chief minister’s tenure he launched a campaign to shut down madrassas and run bull-dozers on them. It resulted in a significant drop in the number of schoolgirls in the Muslim community and this resulted in more child marriages.
Surely, many such juvenile marriages are highly unequal and exploitative and everyone should agree to end such a practice. We might also agree with the Assam government’s view that child marriages violate human rights. However, the government of Assam would be better off campaigning to educate parents and the people rather than arbitrarily and suddenly take to the law to deal with the problem of child marriages! A law is made to be implemented not only in letter but also in the spirit of the law.