Every year, when Assam tops the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the country, Opposition parties like Congress and AIUDF never wait to criticise the State Government. But the Opposition does not try to visualise and analyse the root cause of the high MMR in this North Eastern State. It has been proven that child marriage and teenage pregnancy are prime reasons for the high MMR in the State.
Saving Daughters
On January 23, 2023, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Assam Government had decided to act against the social evil of child marriage. According to the 2011 census, 44 per cent of women in Assam were married before 18, most of whom were illegal Muslim migrants.
Justifying the ongoing legal drive against child marriage in Assam, Dr Sarma said, “Shall I allow my daughter to get married at 12-13? A generation will have to suffer this pain to save lakhs of girls from the evil of child marriage.”
There has been a massive concern among the people of Assam about the possible change of demography in the state because of illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the high fertility rate among Muslims. Between 1971 and 1991, Muslims in Assam grew to 77.42 per cent while Hindus grew to 41.89 per cent
The trigger behind the Assam Cabinet’s decision was the State’s poor performance in certain health indicators, as revealed by the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) and Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report by the Registrar General of India (RGI). Child marriage has been identified as a prime factor behind this. The NFHS-5, carried out between 2019 and 2020, showed that 31.8 per cent of women aged between 20 and 24 years in Assam got married before the legal age of 18 years, which is higher than the national figure of 23.3 per cent. What was more alarming was that 11.7 per cent of married women aged between 15 and 19 years were already mothers or pregnant during the period of the survey, compared to the national average of 6.8 per cent.
Highest Fertility Rate
There is another reason why the Sarma Government wants to curb child marriage. The NFHS-5 revealed that Assam’s total fertility rate (TFR), “the average number of children born per woman”, is 1.9 per cent, below the national average of 2. But the TFR among Muslim women is 2.4 per cent, one of the highest in the country, although the TFR among Muslims in the State has considerably dropped from a high of 3.6 per cent in 2005-06.
Change of Demography
There has been a massive concern among the people of Assam about the possible change of demography in the State because of illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the high fertility rate among Muslims. Between 1971 and 1991, Muslims in Assam grew to 77.42 per cent while Hindus grew to 41.89 per cent. The Muslim growth rate during this period was higher than the national average of 55.04 per cent. At the same time, the Hindu growth rate is lower than the national average of 48.38 per cent.
The fear of demographic change can be explained by the population growth rates in two adjacent districts of Dhubri and Kokrajhar. In Dhubri, where nearly 80 per cent of the inhabitants are Muslims, the decadal growth rate between 2001 and 2011 was 24 per cent. In neighbouring Kokrajhar, mostly dominated by the Bodo tribe, it is 5 per cent.
The NFHS-5 showed that 50.8 per cent of all women in Dhubri got married before they turned 18. South Salmara, another Muslim-dominated district, at 44.7 per cent, recorded the second-highest number of child marriages. Contrast this to the tribal-dominated district of Dima Hasao, where the number is just 16.5 per cent. The Government claims the crackdown has been neutral and secular, and no particular community has been targeted. In fact, in Biswanath district, where maximum arrests have been made, more than 80 per cent of the population is Hindu.
The Assam Police have arrested over 2,528 people so far in a massive crackdown on child marriage. The highest number of 139 arrests has been made in the Biswanath Chariali district. This is followed by 128 in Muslim-majority Dhubri, 123 in Baksa, 127 in Barpeta, 117 in Bongaigaon, 101 in Nagaon, 92 in Hojai, 89 in Kokrajhar, 79 in Karimganj, 76 in Goalpara, 71 in Cachar and 60 in Morigaon district.
Ending Menace of Child Marriage
The Assam Police had registered 4,074 cases of child marriage based on complaints and data provided by competent authorities. All these cases had been reported in less than a fortnight since the Cabinet decided on January 23 to take stern action against child marriage, with the arrest of offenders and a simultaneous launch of an extensive awareness campaign against the dangerous impact of child marriage on a girl’s life and on society as a whole.
Throwing light on the entire exercise, DGP GP Singh made it clear that the intention behind the crackdown and registration is not to harass any community. “We want to completely stop the evil of child marriage in the State in the next 2 to 3 years. But now, our biggest challenge is to file chargesheets within 60 to 90 days.”
The Assam Government instructed its Police to act as per law against illegal child marriages across the State. As per the Cabinet’s decision, men having married girls below 14-years will be booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and those having married girls between 14-18 years of age will be booked under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. These offenders will be arrested as per the provisions of the law, and these marriages will be declared illegal and unconstitutional. If the boy is also below 14 years of age, he will be sent to a reform house, as minors cannot be tried in court. The priests, Kazis and family members involved in the conduct of such marriages will also be booked.
In a press briefing after the Cabinet’s decision, Dr Sarma’s tweeted, “Assam Government is firm in its resolve to end the menace of child marriage in the state. So far Assam Police has registered 4,074 cases (of child marriage) across the state and more police action in coming days. I request all to cooperate.”
Of the 4,074 cases of child marriage registered recently, the highest was reported in Muslim-majority districts of Dhubri (370) and, Hojai (255), Morigaon (224). There were a large number of cases registered in Udalguri (235), and Kokrajhar (204) districts which have a substantial number of Muslim population.
Assam also has a high rate of infant mortality and as an average of 31 per cent of marriages registered in the state are in the prohibited age, according to reports of the National Family Health Survey.
Apprehensions
Professor Jnanendra Barman opined that child marriage has assumed an alarming proportion in the immigrant Muslim-dominated districts of Assam like Dhuburi, Goalpara, South Salmara-Mankachar. “The fertility rate is also higher in these districts. When the fertility rate of Hindus in Assam is 1.6, the fertility rate of immigrant Muslim is more than 3.4. The rate of women, who are already mothers or pregnant at 15-19 years, is comparatively higher in the immigrant Muslim-dominated districts. This has resulted in demographic imbalance in the state. Forcing a girl child to marry and then to motherhood at an age when she should be in the school is a crime. The UN has also described child marriage as human right violation. We have a law against child marriage but was not implemented; it remained like a tiger without teeth,” said Prof Assam Government under the able leadership of Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has addressed this sensitive and critical underlying issue and seems determined to curb this menace. Social leadership should also play a vital role to address the issue
Arrest of Kazis
In the massive drive against child marriage, Assam Police have, so far, arrested 2,528 offenders, including 75 Kazis. The arrests were mostly made from central and lower Assam districts with maximum illegal migrant Muslim population.
More than 8,000 accused were named in the 4,074 cases registered which includes numbers of Islamic Kazis and Maulanas and a few Purohits. Most of these child marriages took place in the lower Assam districts of Dhubri, Barpeta, Darrang Biswanath Chariali, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Goalpara and central Assam district of Nagaon and Morigaon. All these districts have a large population of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
Summing up, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Our drive against child marriage is for public health and public welfare as teenage pregnancy ratio in Assam is quite alarming – 16.8 per cent. We are determined to continue this drive until we fulfil our objective. I urge the people to cooperate with us in controlling this harmful trend.”
According to Government of India, teenage pregnancy rate in the illegal migrant Muslim populous district of Barpeta is 28.7 per cent, Dhubri is 27.9 per cent, Goalpara is 24.1 per cent, Goalpara is 22.3 per cent, Kokrajhar is 21.9 per cent, Darrang is 21.1 per cent and Morigaon is 20 per cent. Teenage pregnancy is one of the major factors of high mother and newborn mortality rate in the State.
Giving her response to the Government’s crackdown, Chairperson of Assam state commission for protection of child right (ASCPCR) Sunita Changkakoty said that the move by the Government was much awaited. “It will send a strong message to society against the menace of child marriage,” she said.
Baseless criticism
It is not that the brave step against the menace of child marriage is welcomed by everyone. Opposition parties like Congress, AIUDF and even AIMIM are opposing the move. Congress State President Bhupen Bora wants the Stae Government to show humanity to the men who commit crimes like child marriage.
Defending his community, Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF said the BJP Government is targeting the Muslim population in the State. However, parties like AIUDF never accept the truth that more than 70 per cent child marriage happens amongst the Muslims in the State. Asaduddin Owaisi said that the government should have tried to improve the literacy rate amongst Muslims before taking the step on child marriage. But the same Owaisi criticised the Assam Government when it converted nearly 4,000 madrassas to regular schools to give the Mohamden students modern education in Assam.
Not only political parties in India, foreign media including propaganda websites patronised by Muslim countries and Left wing are describing the move by Assam Government as anti-Muslim. These are the same people who want the Muslim population to educate only in Madrasas. Neither Left nor Congress talk about the need to increase awareness of modern education among Muslims, but if the Government wants to bring some reform for good, they are always ready to oppose it in the name of minority rights, said Professor Hirok Jyoti Sarma.
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