GUWAHATI: After the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act at the beginning of this month, Chief Minister Himant Biswa Sharma has put forward a list of requirements for Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants to be given native status. The Chief Minister suggested that they should give up polygamy, child marriage, and not give birth to more than two children if they want to be recognized as natives of Assam

Polygamy is not the culture of Assam. Bengali Muslim immigrants can be accepted as natives of Assam only if they are ready to embrace the culture of Assam. Instead of sending children to madrasas, they should be educated to become doctors and engineers. Girls should be sent to school and given the right to their father's property. There is no problem in them trying to become natives, but for that, they have to give up child marriage and polygamy. Women's education should also be promoted, Hemantha Sharma said.

After Jammu and Kashmir, Assam has the largest number of Muslims. According to the 2011 census, 34 percent of Assam's total population is Muslim.