‘No Muslim woman wants husband to have three wives’: Assam CM calls for uniform civil code

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that there is a need to implement a uniform civil code in the country as no Muslim woman wants her husband to have three wives, PTI reported.

“No Muslim woman wants her husband to have three wives,” Sarma told reporters. “No one wants this. You can ask any Muslim woman. No one would tell you that her husband should marry three women.”

A uniform civil code involves having a common set of laws governing marriage, divorce, succession and adoption for all Indians, instead of allowing separate personal regulations for citizens of different faiths.

The aim of such uniformity is meant to ensure equality and justice for women in particular, who are often denied their rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance under patriarchal personal laws.

While Muslim personal law allows a man to simultaneously have up to four wives, the practice is rare. According to the National Family Health Survey in 2006, the rate of polygamy among Muslims was 2.55%.

The demand for a uniform civil code has also received a push from Uttarakhand. On March 24, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had announced that the Cabinet had unanimously approved the creation of a committee to implement the uniform civil code in the state.

Meanwhile, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday said that a uniform civil code was not required in the country, ANI reported. “As per the Goa civil code, a Hindu man can get married for a second time if the first wife does not have a child by the age of 30 years,” he said. “The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in Goa. What does it have to say about this?”

On April 26, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board had also opposed a uniform civil code, saying that attempts by some chief ministers to introduce were “unconstitutional and anti-minorities”, according to PTI.