Keeping an eye on the next year’s polls, different political parties in Assam are out to woo voters. One such move has, however, caught the Assam unit of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on the wrong foot. The Jamiat, whose president Maulana Badaruddin Ajmal leads All India United Democratic
Front (AIUDF), has recently organised a mass marriage of at least 100 couple including Hindus at Hatsingimari under South Salmara police district in the State. The move has drawn flake for Jamiat and the AIUDF as some of the bridegrooms -- who participated in the mass marriage -- turned out to be minors. While Jamiat held the mass marriage, some of the AIUDF legislators also participated in the ceremony.
“I am sixteen-and-half-year-old. I am getting married today and I thank Jamiat for organising the mass marriage. It’s a great relief for poor families like us that someone organises these mass marriage ceremonies,” one of the grooms told some of the news channels.
“This is unfortunate when an MP (Badaruddin Ajmal) arranges marriages of minors. This is illegal. legal measures should be taken against him at the earliest. This is politically motivated. He should also be arrested. We will take steps in consultation with our Central leadership,” said BJP legislator Prashanta Phukan while reacting to the incident.
local Jamiat leader Maulana Abdus Jabbar, however, said they had checked the birth certificates of the couples. “We have received application from different people for this. The basic criterion was the age and that they should belong to Below Poverty line (BPl) category,” he said, while refuting the charges.
The mass weddings, organised by the local unit of Jamiat, was attended by local AIUDF legislator Hafiz Bashir Ahmed Qasmi and the party’s general secretary Aminul Islam.
“Even before Jamiat organised mass marriage. Of the 100 couples, 13 were Hindus and some belonged to Garo and Hajong tribes,” Islam said. The couples, all from BPl families, were provided with utensils, furniture and clothes. Manjit Bora, a Guwahati resident, said he would file a case with the police against the organisers of the ceremony.
“We are aware that there was a mass marriage on Monday. However, we have not received any complaints saying that there were minors among the bridegrooms. If there were minors, it is a matter of concern and we would act as per the law,” said Additional SP of South Salmara police district Dhruba Bora.