The current Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has come out guns blazing with some very provocative policies he has made for the state of Assam, where he seeks to try and stop evangelism and polygamy in the state. But why does this move provoke so much outrage?
 

Let me not waste time—these are not just any measures. The decision to get involved in these issues is arrived at with underlying social, cultural, and even political baggage that cannot be overlooked.

The first area where the Assam CM has started targeting evangelical activity is due to fear of forced conversion. Various Protestant sects of Christianity have time and again been indicted for proselytising, targeting most often the disadvantaged members of society. Particularly in the context of the tribal people and the religious minorities, the demographics of, say, Assam have seen their fair share of such change-over, which, more often than not, led to hostility between the religious factions.
 

The Assam Chief Minister is addressing two issues that have raised concerns about the state's cultural identity and social justice. The first issue is the weakening of pre-modern cultural imperialism and ethnic selves. The Assam government's plan to prevent conversion could be seen as an attempt to protect tribal culture and Assam's social structure. However, critics question the freedom of religion, a provision contained in the Indian Constitution.

The second issue is polygamy, legal marriages within some organized religions. While polygamy is still legal for Indian Muslims under Sharia law, the rest of the country follows civil marriage law, which is monogamy. The CM of Assam has supported the idea of outlawing polygamy, arguing that it brings social injustice, disturbance of order, and peace in families.

The Assam government's move is being perceived as a quest to pass civil codes that would make all women equal across the nation, regardless of their religion. This is not just about men being equal to women, but also about national unity. The Assam government may be using the polygamy ban to assert the desirability of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India, which has been mulled over for 70 years but never fully enacted.

There is also a political side to these reforms, as the restriction on conversion may align with Hindu nationalist sentiments in a state that has long been experiencing religious conversion. The campaign against polygamy may help Assam integrate into the rest of the country and join the BJP-led government on the Uniform Civil Code.

The brief by the Assam CM is not an attempt to sensationalise a news piece, but rather to protect cultural identity and social justice. The real question is whether these measures will produce the desired state of affairs in terms of social stability or widen the already split society.

In any case, they say, it is for sure that this is a move that would so greatly define the future of Assam not only in the record books but also in several other fields as well.