Some lawmakers have argued in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the parliament on Sunday that punishing polygamy is against prevailing traditions, culture and ethnic practices.
There was a heated debate about polygamy when lawmakers Chhakka Bahadur Lama and Bijay Subba pointed that polyandry is still practiced in some ethnicities and regions, and opined that ethnic traditions should also be considered while formulating laws.
Members of the committee Yashoda Gurung Subedi, Rekha Sharma and the majority of lawmakers in the committee blasted the practice of polyandry and argued that the prevailing laws should be honored.
Subba claimed that the Constitution was drafted in accordance to Hindu practices, and accused it of ignoring the practices and culture of the religion of other ethnicities. "What would you do if they come to register three husbands and a wife? Should the prevailing practices in society not be addressed by the law?" he fumed. "One lawmaker stated that things prohibited by the Constitution should not be practiced. This has been drafted on the basis of Hindu scriptures. This does not recognize many things including Lama, Subba, Raute and others."
Lawmaker Yashoda Gurung Subedi argued that one cannot demand recognition of polygamy, either in the form of polyandry or polygyny, as the criminal code has already considered polygamy as a crime and it annuls multiple marriages. Subba asked how the law can punish someone for merely following ethnic traditions and practices when the Constitution allows all the ethnicities to follow their traditions and practices.
"There are different kinds of our social practices. The good ones should be accepted by formulating laws but the bad ones have to be removed by making them punishable by law," Subedi stated. "Our society also recognizes witches. Do we accept the practice of witchcraft?"
Lawmaker Sharma also stressed that practices and traditions cannot override the legal and constitution provisions. She pointed that there is no logic of arguing for addressing regional traditions and culture as the talk is about federal law and Constitution.
Lawmaker Lama was angry after Subedi advised the lawmakers to read the provision about marriage in criminal and civil codes. "This debate has made us feel guilty. This problem is not just of Chhakka Bahadur Lama," he pointed and demanded that laws be formulated only after studying the actual social practices.
The topic of polygamy entered the committee's meeting while discussing the provision requiring both husband and wife to provide information about marriage.
