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‘Every six months we will…’: CM Himanta's action plan to curb child marriage in Assam
The Assam CM termed the problem of population explosion as the “real” issue and maintained that the drive against child marriages is their attempt at controlling the population, in addition to saving the lives of young girls.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Wednesday re-iterated his government's commitment to curb the problem of child marriages in the state, and said that it will routinely organise a massive crackdown on child marriages in a bid to eradicate the menace by the year 2026.
"Every six months we will arrest busloads of offenders…Democracy’s roller on child marriage will continue," he said while speaking about his plan to eradicate it from the state by 2026. Sarma’s response came while replying to a discussion of Vote of Thanks on the Governor’s speech in the state Assembly.
The Assam CM termed the problem of population explosion as the “real” issue that needed to be dealt with for which he backed his government’s attempts at “illegal” eviction drives. While linking the two issues, he also added that the drive against child marriages is also their attempt at controlling the population, in addition to saving the lives of young girls.
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Speaking further on the ongoing eviction drives in the state, especially from the forest and protected areas, Sarma maintained these were being carried out mostly as per court orders, based on laws enacted during Congress’ rule. He also accused the Congress of shedding crocodile tears for the minorities and claimed that they were living in the "most peaceful atmosphere" ever in the state.
He also said the arrests made in the operation against child marriage, launched in February, comprised an equal number of Hindus and Muslims. The state government's crackdown on child marriages had come under the Opposition’s scrutiny. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had even termed the Sarma-led dispensation as "anti-Muslims". More than 4,000 cases were registered under the government's intensified drive in which over 3,000 people were arrested till mid-February.
(With PTI inputs)
