All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi blasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over its proposal to raise the minimum legal age of marriage for women. In a series of tweets, Owaisi said that the decision to increase the age of marriage for women to 21 is “typical paternalism that we have come to expect” from the central government. He opined that both men and women should be allowed to get legally married at 18, the age at which they can choose lawmakers and are treated as adults by law for all other purposes.
“They can consent to sexual relationships and live-in partnerships but cannot choose their life partners? Just ridiculous,” Owaisi tweeted.
The Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad argued that education and economic prospects impact the age of marriage than the legality around it. Highlighting the high number of child marriages but negligible criminal cases against it, Owaisi said social reform and government initiatives in education and human development are critical to preventing child marriages.
“If Modi was sincere, he would have focused on increasing economic opportunities for women. Yet India is the only country where women’s participation in workforce is dwindling,” he wrote on Twitter. Referring to a government report on India’s female labour participation, he noted, “It fell to 16% in 2020 from 26% in 2005.”
{{/usCountry}}“If Modi was sincere, he would have focused on increasing economic opportunities for women. Yet India is the only country where women’s participation in workforce is dwindling,” he wrote on Twitter. Referring to a government report on India’s female labour participation, he noted, “It fell to 16% in 2020 from 26% in 2005.”
{{/usCountry}}Govt may table bill to raise women’s marriage age to 21
Owaisi stressed the need to improve the educational outcomes of women to ensure autonomous decision-making.
He said the marriage age in many US states is as low as 14 and in the UK and Canada it is 16, adding that these nations improved the human development of young people so that they can make “informed decisions rather than fixing arbitrary age restrictions.”
“In contrast, Modi govt acts like a Mohalla Uncle. Deciding what we eat, who/when we marry, what God we worship, etc,” Owaisi wrote.
“It’s time to stop thinking of young people as children in perpetuity. They should be allowed the space to think & decide for themselves,” he added.