I have just no hesitation in saying that polygamy is a deep rooted social evil which must be banned completely from India and is the root cause of poverty in India as those who are not much educated marry many especially in tribal areas where it is permitted and among Muslims who are not financially sound as they fail to realize its serious repercussions. It merits just no reiteration that India cannot afford now the continuation of polygamy anymore for anyone and there can be just no gainsaying that no one can ever be placed above the nation under any circumstances as that would jeopardize our national interests which we cannot afford at any cost. It is the national interests that should be placed paramount and not anything else.

My very best friend Sageer Khan in Mackronia locality in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh way back in 1993 who was the first to educate me on this was at pains to point out that polygamy is a deep rooted evil among Muslims especially but he said that we see no PM taking any bold initiative in this regard to permanently weed out polygamy which is the root cause of increasing population and social backwardness of Muslims.

Sageer Khan also pointed out that polygamy is the root cause of conversion in India and this only increases hatred among different religions as for Hindus it was banned just some years after independence and religions associated with Hinduism like Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism among others which I term as the worst discrimination perpetrated on Hindus who inspite of being in majority have to go to jail if they marry more than once even though prior to 1955 Hindus had no restriction whatsoever among men or woman to marry more than one and there was no upper limit but for us no PM has ever dared to do so which is the crying need of the hour and I very strongly feel that no PM in future also can ever dare to do so even though it has been abolished in many Islamic countries fearing anger among Muslims which just cannot be justified! Sageer Khan also pointed out that triple talaq was outlawed in Pakistan just after independence but in India it is still continuing.

Now we are in August 2024 and why still we see no PM in last 77 years of independence taking any initiative to root out this menace of polygamy for once and all is beyond my comprehension even though triple talaq has been outlawed! How prophetic true the words of my very best friend Sageer Khan have turned out to be! This despite the unpalatable truth that India has just recently overtaken China in population and yet Centre is most shamelessly, senselessly and stupidly not willing to take any serious action on this score. We see so many prominent feminist and Islamic scholars also like Mohammad Arif Khan who is Governor of Kerala and who most stoutly opposes polygamy and demands its total abolition in our country due to its huge implications for gender inequality which only subjugates women and fosters deepest discontent among people of different religions. Mohammad Arif Khan minced just no words to point out unequivocally that:
If Triple Talaq can be challenged, then unrestrained right to Polygamy should also be challenged. Nowhere in Quran does it allow anyone to practice such oppressive customs. This Constitution doesn't permit any positive discrimination on the basis of religion. It is truly incomprehensible that why then do we see that there is no meaningful initiative being taken in this regard by Centre to abolish it completely!

It is definitely a national disgrace that it was only the first PM of India – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who alone had the guts, gall and gumption to most boldly abolish polygamy by which a man can marry more than one woman among Hindus and that too way back in 1955 by enacting the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 for which I truly applaud him as majority of population in India is of Hindus and it has immensely helped in controlling the population of Hindus to a very large extent but no PM could ever dare to do the same for Muslims as my very best friend Sageer Khan also wanted just like Arif Mohammad Khan. This despite the irrefutable fact that Dr BR Ambedkar in his Hindu Code Bill 1951 very strongly advocated for retention of polygamy among Hindus and it was to be just a ground of divorce. But Pandit Nehruji acting like a true reformer emancipated Hindus and religions associated with Hindus by going ahead with abolishing polygamy as also polyandry by which a woman can marry more than one men.

It was good to see that PM Narendra Modi abolished triple talaq in 2019 among Muslims which Pakistan abolished decades back in 1961 and so also many Muslim countries abolished it long time back. But he too in his more than 10 yeara rule has till now showed absolutely no sign of abolishing polygamy among Muslims even though none other than the eminent former Union Cabinet Minister in Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet and present Kerala Governor - Arif Mohammad Khan has time and again advocated for abolition of polygamy among Muslims as pointed out earlier. We are nearing 75 years of independence but still can anyone really say that we are still reeling from partition wounds and so polygamy should not be abolished among Muslims even now? Should we wait till 100 years of independence for polygamy to be abolished among Muslims also?

As we all know and as mentioned earlier, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehruji took the single biggest and the most commendable step of controlling the population of Hindus by restricting Hindus to just one marriage. Prior to Pandit Nehruji's government framing The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Hindus both men and women could earlier prior to this Act being enacted could marry as many as they wanted and there was just no limit on either men or women. Lord Krishna had 16,108 wives as was reported in The Times of India newspaper in 2018. Similarly Ashoka also had thousands of wives and so was the case with not just kings but even among the common man and women.

There was just no limit and both men and women had the liberty even during British rule and so also in Mughal rule, Sultanate rule and earlier also dating back to thousands of years as in Mauryas rule and so on to marry as many as they wanted. But Pandit Nehruji brought down both Hindu men and women to just one which is the most commendable step since independence ever taken by any PM for which Hindus must always be grateful to Pandit Nehruji!

This alone explains why I always refer to Pandit Nehruji as the Real Reformer of Hindus but Pandit Nehruji didn't touch Muslims as the country then was reeling fresh from the partition wounds and Nehruji didn't want to do anything that would create insecurity among Muslims in any manner! But what about the other PM who ruled after Nehruji till PM Narendra Damodardas Modi who is ruling since last more than 10 years and few months? Why they have not done anything on this?

My very best friend Sageer Khan in 1993 said most vocally underscoring that, Why Hindus are forced to become Muslims to marry more than once? Polygamy should have been abolished for both or for none but Nehru very wrongly imposed monogamy only on Hindus which is most disgraceful and cannot be ever justified. Muslims should be treated on par with Hindus and polygamy should be abolished among us also. This will greatly help in controlling the population also in our country.

When Hindus can be brought down to one both male and female then why can't Muslim males be also not brought down to one and Muslim females are already one as they unlike men cannot marry more than one? Centre and our law makers must give it a serious thought! Why even after so many years we still see no concrete action being taken?

It is an undeniable fact that for far too long this most pressing issue of uniform civil code has been hanging fire and our law makers have just callously preferred to always look the other way around on it. Why is it that film actor Dharmender had to become Muslim to marry a second time to marry Hema Malini after they fell in love after filming Sholay in 1975? Why is it that the son of former Chief Minister of Haryana - Bhajan Lal named Chander Mohan also had to change his name to Chand Mohammed and so also Anuradha Bali had to assume a Muslim name Fizza and convert to Islam just to marry each other as Chander was already married and in Hindu religion one cannot marry than one?

There are millions of such cases where the conversion is purely on the temptation to marry more than one women! Why can't this most dirty sham which is root cause of many conversions also end once and for all? Why can't law be same for one and all? Will it not help control population also if monogamy is imposed on one and all?

To put it mildly: When Hindus can be made to shun polygamy and polyandry in 1955 then why can't the same be done among Muslim men in 2025? My best friend Sageer Khan also always wanted Muslims to abolish polygamy as it is a bad practice and cannot be ever condoned! Sageer Khan also used to often ask: Why Centre trembles to do anything on this score? Why can't monogamy be imposed equally on people of all religion alike when Nehru could impose it only for Hindus way back in 1955? It has become a fashion to marry more than one. This is the root cause of increase in population in India. Centre must seriously ponder on it.

If Centre takes decisive action and after 75 years of independence summons the courage to abolish polygamy among people of all religions just like Pandit Nehruji summoned to do the same for Hindus in 1955 not just among men but also among women that is abolishing both polygamy and polyandry then population can be controlled to a great extent! But what an unbeatable irony that in last 75 years of independence no PM nor any Supreme Court Judge has gathered the guts, gall and gumption to call a spade a spade and abolish polygamy among people of all religion as my best friend Sageer Khan always advocated also!

Of course, it goes without saying that using force to control population can never be feasible nor advisable! It would only worsen the situation further! We all saw how late Sanjay Gandhi who during Emergency in 1975-77 had thought that he could control population by using forcible methods of sterilisation floundered as he enjoyed unbridled powers and Congress party also lost power as people certainly didn't approve of it in any way. It must be underscored that Centre as also the States must now launch more awareness campaign to ensure that the people themselves become more aware of the dangerous consequences of over population and should work most actively in this direction!

In addition, Centre and States must give more and more concessions to those families where the children are just one or two. This can certainly go a long way in motivating others to follow suit! But both Centre and States ought to be more proactive on it as population explosion is the most serious problem confronting India since last many years! It merits no reiteration that a dormant snail like approach would only serve in further exacerbating this problem further which our country can ill afford at this juncture! So now the ball is clearly in the court of the government!

It must be strictly ensured that child marriages does not take place to achieve fertility decline and this holds true especially in villages and remote areas where we keep hearing increasing incidents of child marriages taking place even now! There has to be zero tolerance on child marriages as it is because of child marriages that a women has many children and that too very early in her life! If child marriage is seriously and strictly checked it will ensure that population is also checked to a great extent.
Not just this, the marriage age must also be increased to 25 for both men and women and not just to 21 as we see being done in case of women. This can go a long way in ensuring that both men and women attain maturity when they marry and in their early youth don't indulge in the mistake of having many children. This can again prove to be a big leap in the direction to control population to a great extent!

In conclusion, it is high time and now polygamy should be completely abolished in India among people of all religions and all communities and all castes and all tribes just like Pandit Nehruji abolished it among Hindus and religions related with Hindus in 1955! But the moot question certainly is: Can any PM ever dare to do what Pandit Nehruji did not do? Impose monogamy on one and all and not just Hindus alone as he did in 1955!

Of course, the ball is now in Centre's court! It is for the Centre to take initiative on this count also! If uniform civil code cannot be ushered in due to difference in laws among different religions, the least that can be done now is to abolish polygamy completely as India is already the most populated country in the world and so we must act now before it is too late for nation comes first and religion comes next as said commendably by Sageer Khan!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col (Retd) BPS Sirohi, A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera, Meerut - 250001, Uttar Pradesh