 "Himanta Biswa Sarma")
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that the state police will arrest 2,000 to 3,000 more men in the next ten days as part of its campaign against child marriage, reported India Today.
Since February, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Assam has undertaken a statewide crackdown on child marriages. The police have been filing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) against men who have married girls below 14 years of age and under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) against those who married girls aged 14-18.
Sarma made his latest comments on the campaign against child marriage while addressing a meeting of the national executive of the BJP's women's wing.
"Six months back, I arrested 5,000 people for child marriage in Assam," Sarma said, adding, "I was waiting for the G20 to end. Now in the next 10 days, I will arrest 2,000-3,000 men for child marriage. Because we have to eradicate it [child marriage]. A law has been enacted saying that this should not happen. And if it continues to happen, daughters from a particular group will never progress. They will keep becoming victims of exploitation."
The chief minister also accused the Congress of only seeing Muslims as a vote bank and claimed that the BJP has done more for Muslims than the Congress regime.
"Some people believe that we are anti-Muslim. But I believe that by ending triple talaq, polygamy and child marriage, we have done more for Muslims than any Congress government," Sarma said.
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The arrests made earlier this year had triggered protests by women who opposed the filing of criminal cases against their family members.
Many activists had contended the police crackdown was short-sighted as it did not address the structural reasons, such as poverty and illiteracy, behind underage marriages.
