Guwahati, Nov 25 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday tabled the Assam Prohibition of Polygamy Bill, 2025 in the state Assembly, a move aimed at outlawing the practice of polygamy and introducing a significant social reform in the state.
The bill was introduced on the first day of the Winter Session with the permission of Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary. However, several Opposition parties—including the Congress, CPI(M) and Raijor Dal—were not present in the House at the time of its introduction, having staged a walkout earlier in the day.
The Opposition MLAs left the Assembly following a discussion on the death of popular Assamese singer Zubeen Garg. As a result, the bill was presented in their absence and is scheduled to be taken up for detailed discussion and passage at a later date.
In another major development, Chief Minister Sarma also laid on the table the report of the Justice (retd) T.U. The Mehta Commission, which examined the widespread violence that unfolded during the 1983 Assembly elections.
The period marked one of the most turbulent chapters in Assam’s history, coinciding with the peak of the anti-influx agitation that lasted from 1979 to 1985.
Among the most tragic events of that period was the Nellie massacre of February 1983, in which more than 2,100 people were killed in a single night. Despite the significance of the findings, no discussion was held in the House following the tabling of the Mehta Commission report.
The government also distributed printed copies of the T.P. Tewary Commission report, which had investigated the 1983 disturbances, including the Nellie massacre.
The Tewary Commission, headed by retired IAS officer T.P. Tewary, was established on July 14, 1983, and submitted its final report to the then Congress government in May 1984. Although it was formally tabled by the AGP government in 1987, access to the report had remained limited. Chief Minister Sarma noted that for decades, only a single copy of the report was available with the Speaker’s office, restricting access for legislators.
Following a recent Cabinet decision, both hard and digital copies of the report have now been made available to MLAs during the current session to ensure transparency and wider dissemination.
As clarified by the Chief Minister, the House will not discuss the Tewary Commission report. The opening day of the Winter Session thus witnessed the tabling of a landmark social reform bill alongside renewed institutional attention to one of the darkest periods in Assam’s political and social history.
--IANS
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