The government of Assam is likely to present an anti-polygamy bill in the upcoming state assembly in December. This ban will not allow a person to have more than one spouse at a time.While addressing a gathering of the BJP alliance in Tisukia, Assam on Saturday, Chief Minister Hemanta Biswa Sharma informed the media that the state government intends to conclude the process of finalizing the polygamy ban bill within the next 45 days.Moreover, Hemanta also addressed the issue of AFSPA in the gathering and said that the state government is working on the issue.Assam Govt to introduce Bill in state assembly to ban polygamyRead @ANI Story | https://t.co/x4xM1KVnTj#Assam #himantabiswasarma #Polygamy pic.twitter.com/tjIQGG7hoZ— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) September 3, 2023Expert committee on polygamy banPreviously an expert committee was formed to analyze the legislative competence of the State Legislature to enact a law to end polygamy in Assam and Sharma has said that the committee has given positive remarks to this agenda. The committee submitted its report to the Assam Chief Minister on August 6 this year.“A legal committee was formed to analyse whether the state government can ban polygamy or not and we have received positive thoughts. We also sought public opinions and suggestions on the proposed Bill for banning polygamy,” said Sharma.He also said that the state government has received as many as 149 suggestions in response to a public notice seeking feedback from the state on the proposed law to ban the practice of marrying multiple spouses.“Out of these, 146 suggestions are in favour of the Bill and they support to ban on polygamy. However, three suggestions have expressed their opposition to banning polygamy. Our next phase is to draft the Bill,” Mr Sarma said.– Update on proposed bill for banning polygamy –We have received a total of 149 suggestions in response to our public notice. Out of these, 146 suggestions are in favor of the bill, indicating strong public support. However, 3 organizations have expressed their opposition to the…— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) September 2, 2023Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sharma further stated, “We will add some points in the bill in order to stop Love Jihad in the state”.Assam governments take on AFSPA Chief Minister Hemanta Biswa Sharma was also questioned about the pertaining issue of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the region and he replied that the state government is working on it.“We will have to take the decision on whether AFSPA is to be withdrawn or not. It is a view of the state government and the the Union government will take the final view. I will discuss it with the Union government this month and towards the end of this month, a concrete decision will be taken,” Mr Sarma said.The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 is an act of the Parliament of India that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces and the state and paramilitary forces in areas classified as “disturbed areas”.The AFSPA was first imposed in Assam in November 1990 and has been extended every six months since then after a review by the State government. It empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior warrant.However, the CM had earlier said that his government would take necessary steps to withdraw AFSPA from the entire State by the end of this year.
