Newsdesk, February 4, 2023: Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Saturday appealed to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to stop harassment of people in the name of prevention of child marriages and said that so many child marriages taking place in the State in the past seven or eight years is a dangerous failure of the BJP-led government in Assam.
In a statement issued to the media, Saikia said, “Child marriage is a social evil. There were and are many avenues with which the government could prevent child marriages. But how so many child marriages took place illegally in the State in the past seven or eight years is a matter of surprise. It’s a dangerous failure of the BJP government.”
As per the instructions of the Chief Minister, cases of child marriage have been registered against thousands of people. Why did the minister, bureaucrats or the board connected with safety of children and women and social welfare not take action in this regard for so long? The Chief Minister should have been answerable for this, Saikia said.
The Assam Congress leader argued that as these people, even if illegally married, have been leading domestic life for the last seven or eight years, now their families should not be harassed. “I appeal to the Chief Minister to stop harassing these people and hold the departments concerned accountable so that such cases do not recur in future,” Saikia said.
