"Muslim Men Can't Have 3-4 Wives, We Have to Change the System": Assam CM

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• Dec 9, 2022 | Dhupali Das

Bengali-speaking Muslims from East Bengal or present-day Bangladesh are referred to as 'Pomuwa Muslims' in Assam...

Digital Desk: Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, declared on Thursday that his party is against Muslim men having multiple wives.

CM Sarma launched a scathing attack on Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal, saying that women can give birth to "20–25 children" as per the AIUDF chief's reported advice, but the opposition leader must bear all future expenses for food, clothing, and education.

"There cannot be any right for a man living in independent India to marry three-four women (without divorcing the previous spouse); we want to change such a system; we will have to try to deliver justice to Muslim women," the chief minister said at an official function here.

"We want sabka saath sabka vikas. If there are doctors from Assamese Hindu families, there should be doctors from Muslim families as well. Many MLAs don't give such advice because they require the votes of 'Pomuwa' Muslims," CM Sarma said.

Bengali-speaking Muslims from East Bengal or present-day Bangladesh are referred to as 'Pomuwa Muslims' in Assam.

Speaking about Ajmal's controversial comments on women, the Assam CM said, "In Assam, we have some leaders who believe that women must give birth to children as soon as possible because it is a fruitful land." A woman's childbirth process cannot be compared with a field, he added.

"I have consistently stated that our women can bear 20–25 children, but their food, clothing, education, and all other expenses must be supplied by Ajmal. Then we would not have any problems," Sarma added.

If the perfume businessman-turned-Lok Sabha MP cannot bear the expenses of the children, then nobody has the right to give a lecture on childbirth, he added.

Sarma added that a family should only have as many children as they can support financially, in terms of food, clothing, and education, in order to help them grow into better human beings.

"Our government's policy is clear; we work for indigenous people, but we want progress for all; we don't want Muslim students, particularly 'Pomuwa' Muslims, to study in madrassas and become "Jonab" and "Imam," he added.

The BJP-led government wants all Muslim children to be admitted to general schools and colleges so that they can become doctors and engineers.

In an interview with a news organization on December 2, Ajmal made comments against women, Hindu men, and CM Sarma, apparently in response to the chief minister's remarks on "love jihad."

The Dhubri MP, revered as a "Maulana," reportedly advised Hindus to marry young in order to produce more children like Muslims.

As a result of the backlash, the MP apologized the next day, saying he was "ashamed" of the controversy he had sparked. However, he insisted that his remarks were misconstrued and that he had not targeted any community.

In response to the arrest of several terror elements linked to a madrassa in the district, the chief minister stated, "I am really concerned about Al-Qaeda links to a madrassa in Morigaon; we cannot turn the district into a base for Al-Qaeda."

"For the progress of the Morigaon district, we must all remain away from communalism and religious fundamentalism," he added.