Sunday, January 29, 2023

Himanta says women should become mothers at ‘appropriate’ age; activists hit out | Latest News India | Times Of Ahmedabad

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said women should become mothers at an “appropriate age” between 22 and 30 years of age, drawing criticism for his remarks.

Addressing an event in Guwahati, Sarma said: “For women, the best time to become a mother is between 22 to 30 years of age. If the women follow this, it’ll be good, for them and the child,” Sarma said, while suggesting “women aged near 30 to get married soon”.

The chief minister was speaking about the government’s efforts to bring down the mortality rate in mothers and newborns in the state. According to him, early marriage and pregnancy before the proper age is “one of the reasons” for high rate of mother and infant deaths.

“We are taking legal actions against those forcing minor girls to become mother. But at the same time I would suggest women to become mothers before 30. Late pregnancy also brings complications,” he said.

He added: “We have been speaking against early motherhood. But at the same time, women should not wait too long either as many do … God has created our bodies in a manner that there is an appropriate age for everything,”

Last week, the state cabinet took a decision to book men who marry girls below the age of 14 years under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Those who marry girls in the age group of 14-18 years will be tried under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

Slamming the chief minister for his remarks, several women activists said Sarma should instead talk about other important issues and refrain from “moral policing”.

Lawyer and social activist from Assam’s Silchar, Paulomi Nag, 34, said that the chief minister should rather think about how to create jobs so that the newborns get a better life.

“We should talk about other important issues rather than suggesting women to conceive before 30… our CM is a lawyer, not a physician, he should read some studies before making such comments.”

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Silchar-based journalist Shubham Surita said women are often forced to quit the workforce because of the pressure of childbearing and less maternity care.

“This impacts our economy too. A person in seat of power should think twice before making such comment. For me, it isn’t just a simple case of moral policing, but also harming our country’s overall human resource potential,” she said.

A Guwahati-based activist Anuruta Hazarika said that state should look at other important issues like providing sex education and adequate security to women. “It should be a woman’s personal choice and not a state’s diktat,” she said.

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