Assam Crackdown on Child Marriages and the Muslim Community
Assam Government
Has Shut Down 1700 Elementary Schools Forcing Many Girls To Leave Schools.
Main Points:
1. Percentage
of child marriages is higher among Hindus.
2. Majority of
arrested people are reportedly Muslims.
3. In J&K,
child marriage among Muslims is 5.3 per cent.
4. In Kerala
where Muslims constitute 27 per cent of population, child marriage constitutes
8 per cent.
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New
Age Islam Staff Writer
10 February
2023
Photo: The Times of India
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The Assam
government has launched a crackdown against child marriages in the state. In
three days, 2278 people, fathers and husbands of minor brides along with
priests and Qazis have been arrested. In most of the cases, the sole breadwinner
of the family has been sent behind bars. Many women have protested against the
arrests before police stations.
A 17 year
old girl committed suicide fearing that her father may be arrested. AIUDF
leader Badruddin Ajmal criticised the Assam government for targeting mostly
Muslims when child marriage is a common social problem of India, particularly,
rural India. The National statistics on the marriage of minor girls reveal that
84 per cent of 12 million children who were married before 10 years were
Hindus.
The law
preventing child marriage was brought in 2007 but still child marriages have
been happening in India. To prevent child marriages, the governments should
take measures for the education of girls. The government has upped the
marriageable age for girls to 21 years but the provision for girl’s education
has not been made.
The sudden
crackdown on child marriage may be a result of a propaganda that Muslims
produce more children and when married early, they will produce even more
children. But the statistics point to the contrary. The Assam government has
set up temporary jails for child marriage accused and this has created an
unnecessary administrative burden on the state government. Child marriage is
common social problem. The governments have not ensured a minimum of 10 years
of education for girls and improvement of economic condition of the middle
class and those under poverty level. This problem needs a liberal approach.
More schools should be opened for girls and girls should be allowed to have
free education till graduation. Unless this is done, knee jerk reaction to
teenage pregnancies will prove counterproductive.
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Assam,
the Answer Is Schools, Not Jails
By
10 February
2023
Thousands
are being arrested in Assam as part of a crackdown on child marriage even
though studies from across the world and in India have shown that educational
attainment and socio-economic status of a household are the most significant
correlates of child marriage. Assam, where almost 86% of the population is
rural, has among the largest proportion of rural women who haven’t completed 10
or more years of schooling, roughly 74%.
The Real
Challenge: Girls Skipping School
“Among
individual characteristics, the level of education of females has the most
profound impact on the age they marry, irrespective of household wealth,
locality and other characteristics,” stated a UNICEF study on child marriages
in India. According to the latest National Family Health Survey (2019-21),
about one-third of rural women in the 20-24 age group in Assam were married
before the age of 18. There are only two states – West Bengal (48%) and
Jharkhand (36%) – with a higher proportion of rural women in this age group who
were married before 18 and they have roughly the same proportion of women who
did not complete more than 10 years of schooling as Assam, about 74%.
Instead of
doubling down on improving schooling for girls by investing in more schools and
improving the condition of existing schools, in September last year, the Assam
government announced that over 1,700 government-run elementary schools were
being shut down and merged with neighbouring schools in keeping with the school
‘rationalisation’ recommended by Niti Aayog. Such mergers usually hurt girl
students the most as they often have to travel longer distances to go to
school. This results in girls being pulled out of school citing safety
concerns. Parents’ fear about the safety of girls in public spaces is another
reason for pushing girls into early marriages.
Limited
paid work opportunities for women and girls is another factor that contributes
to early marriage. Assam happens to be the state with the second lowest female
worker population ratio of just 14.2%. According to Niti Aayog’s
multidimensional poverty estimates, the proportion of the population recognised
as vulnerable vis-à-vis food and nutrition security under National Food
Security Act as priority households is the third highest in Assam, 71.2%.
Missing Development
Quotient
The chief
minister tweeted on February 6 that the “drive against child marriage is for
public health and public welfare” as teenage pregnancy ratio in Assam was as
high as 16.8%. He gave a list of districts with their proportion of teenage
pregnancy. Incidentally, some of the districts with the highest proportion of
teenage pregnancy also happen to be those with a high proportion of marriages
before 18 years. Many of these are also the ones in which a large number of
elementary schools were shut down or merged. Poor quality and inaccessibility
of facilities and services, whether in health or education, would contribute to
teenage pregnancies as poorly educated women are the most vulnerable.
There have
been charges that the crackdown was meant to target Muslims, which the
government has denied. Though a Muslim girl can marry on completing 15 years or
when she attains puberty according to Muslim personal law – a provision being
challenged before the Supreme Court – child marriage is not exclusive to the
community. According to the 2011 Census, 84% of the 12 million children (7.8
million girls) who married before 10 years in India were Hindus and mostly from
rural India.
No Community
Factors Here
Moreover,
Jammu and Kashmir, with 68% Muslim population, has the second lowest proportion
of marriages before 18 years of age (5.3%). Its proportion was low even in the
NFHS survey of 2005-06, just 14.4%, an indication of the influence of
socio-cultural norms on the marital age of women. More than 46% of rural women
in J&K have 10 or more years of schooling. Similarly, in Kerala with almost
27% Muslim population, the proportion of rural women in the 20-24 age group who
were married before 18 was just 8.2%. The proportion of women with 10 or more
years of schooling in rural Kerala was over 75%. At the same time, in Jharkhand
where Muslims constitute barely 15% of the population, the proportion of
marriages before 18 in the same age group is as high as 36%.
While for
each individual factor contributing to child marriage there might be states
doing worse than Assam, in Assam several of these factors coexist, contributing
to a high proportion of marriages before 18 years of age among women. In
effect, people, mostly the poorest, are being punished through the
much-publicised arrests, for the state’s failure to provide good quality
schooling and health facilities and its inability to empower its women.
Source: Assam,
the Answer Is Schools, Not Jails
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/assam-child-marriages-muslim-community/d/129075
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