AIUDF, Jamiat draws flak in Assam

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) Chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal has once again attracted criticism various nativist organisations in India's Assam state.

This time, Ajmal has been accused of trying to gain political mileage in his constituency by organising a mass marriage of alleged minor youths. 
 
Allegedly as a pre-poll gimmick on Monday, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and AIUDF made minors tie the knot at a mass marriage organized in western Assam’s Hatsingimari, for which both have come under several criticism from different quarters.
 
Represented by AIUDF chief Ajmal, who is also the president of Jamiat’s Assam unit, the town of Hatsingimari which lies 242 km west of Guwahati, falls under Dhubri parliamentary constituency in the Indian State of Assam.
 
Local AIUDF legislator Hafiz Bashir Ahmed Qasmi and the party’s general secretary Aminul Islam attended the marriage function, organised by the local unit of Jamiat.
 
However, refuting the charges, local Jamiat leader Maulana Abdus Jabbar said none of the newly-weds were minors. "The marriage for 100 couples from BPL families was conducted only after their birth certificates were verified,” he said.
 
Islam said this is not the first time that Jamiat has organised a mass marriage. He vehemently denied that the event was politically motivated in a district (Dhubri) where Muslims account for 74 per cent of the population.
 
He said that the programme was not exclusively for Muslims only, with 13 out of 100 couples being Hindus and a few others belonging to tribes such as Garo and Hajong.
 
"The couples were also provided with utensils, furniture and clothes necessary to make a home," he said.
 
But after some brides and grooms told local TV channels they were aged 16-17 years, rival political parties, Congress and BJP, sensing a political motive behind the 'social initiative' has panned the AIUDF for using minors.

A Congress spokesperson told that they have asked local party workers to verify the age of the newly-weds.
 
On the other hand, BJP party’s legislator Prasanta Phukan  said they have sought the advice of the party's central leadership for necessary action.
 
Meanwhile, Manjit Bora, a Guwahati-based social worker, has also threatened to file a case against the organisers of the mass marriage.
 
The India Prohibition of Child Marriage Act states that the minimum marriageable age for a girl in India is 18, and a boy 21.
 
However, Dhruba Bora, additional superintendent of police of the district’s South Salmara division, said they will act if there is case but added that there has been no complaint yet.