Assam’s author says Himanta Biswa Sarma’s mother was child marriage victim

Amid the ongoing crackdown on child marriages in Assam, which has earned the state government praises and criticisms in equal measures, an author has taken a potshot at Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma saying that Sarma’s mother had been married off before she had attained the legal age. Ismail Hossain, known for his essays on Islamic traditions, said that the chief minister’s mother Mrinalini Devi, a former vice president of Assam’s literary body Asom Sahitya Sabha, got married at the age of 12. 

“I am not trying to defame Assam Sarma’s mother. All I want to say is that at the time, when Assam CM’s mother along with other women got married, the laws against child marriages were not that strong or rigidly implemented,” said Hossain while speaking to India Today NE. 

At the time Mrinalini Devi, who was born in 1939, got married, the marriageable legal age for girls was 15 years. In 1978, an amendment was passed under the Child Marriage Restraint Act (CMRA) to increase the marriage age for girls to 18. In 2006, the Government of India enacted the Prevention of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) which replaced CMRA with the objective of abolishing child marriage.

Also Read: Assam: Crackdown on child marriage continues, 2,666 persons arrested so far

In an interview broadcast earlier on Doordarshan, Mrinalini Devi narrated how she was married off even before attaining puberty. It was believed that if a father could marry off his daughter before she attained puberty, the father would attain Param Punya. Mrinalini Devi’s father decided to get his daughter married off right after she had completed her middle school. Although it was then a normal practice for parents to marry off their daughters at such a tender age, Mrinalini Devi did not like it and requested her father late Sarat Chandra Sarma to further educate her. Following this, both families decided to let her complete her education, at least up to matriculation. She matriculated in 1959 and then moved to her in-law’s home. Chief Minister Sarma, her second child, was born on February 1, 1969.

Hossain claims that the state government should not be so harsh with the PCMA and instead there should be publicity and proper awareness among the people for at least a month, post which the government should take stern action. “Child marriage existed yesterday also and exists even today. I just highlighted a few known women of the state,” he added referring to a list he posted on social media naming a few celebrated women in Assam, including the CM’s mother, who got married before attaining the legal age.