My very best friend Sageer Khan 32 years ago most strongly batted in Sagar in Madhya Pradesh for complete banning and so also for complete abolition of polygamy in India and said that polygamy and more children are the root cause of backwardness of Muslims which cannot be ever justified under any circumstances! Sageer said that when polygamy and polyandry was abolished for Hindus and related religions in 1955 then why in 1993 polygamy not abolished for Muslims which is root cause of over population and so also of economic backwardness of Muslims and so also an incentive for people of other religions to convert to marry more than one? Most disgracefully and most astoundingly even 32 years later we still see that leave alone uniform civil code being enacted as recommended by Apex Court and so many High Courts time and again even polygamy has not been abolished uniformly even as end of 2025 has begun with month of November running!

What is most frustrating to note is that even though India has crossed China in becoming most populated country in the world still Centre is most dead determined not to ever permanently and completely abolish polygamy in India without any distinction on ground of religion! To be most brutally honest, it was Sageer Khan who first ingrained in me that polygamy is the root cause of extreme poverty and complete backwardness of Muslims and was most vocal proponent of complete and permanent abolition of polygamy all across India! There can be just no gainsaying that population will definitely be hugely controlled if polygamy is completely abolished which is the crying need of the hour also as India is the most populated country in the world now beating China also for which we definitely cannot ever feel proud of!

Arif Mohammad Khan who is Governor of Bihar just like my very best friend Sageer Khan also most vehemently supports the complete abolition of polygamy in India. He very rightly said after the abolition of triple talaq verdict most sagaciously in 2017 that:
The Supreme Court has used the word ‘unconstitutional’ to describe triple talaq in a majority judgment. The door is now open and other provisions like polygamy can be challenged on the basis of its being arbitrary and unilateral. In fact my understanding is that like triple talaq, the unrestrained right to polygamy also finds no sanction in the Quran. It was an Arab practice and every Arab practice is not part of Islam. This judgment has opened the door, it is the beginning of a journey not the end and now the women will not stop at anything less than genuine equality of status as guaranteed by the Constitution of India.”

None other than the PM Narendra Modi himself since last about 12 years has been constantly batting most staunchly for uniform or common civil code but on ground we see most distressingly that leave alone uniform or common civil code not even polygamy has been completely abolished in India which is only serving to increase the population of country further which is most detrimental for our long term national interests and is doing no good to our nation! Who is stopping Centre from complete abolition of social evil like polygamy? Why Centre has failed to catch the bull by the horns on this front?

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 as pointed out earlier also 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 and strong backlash among Muslims which just cannot be justified and Muslims must accept like Hindus and related religions its abolition rather volunteer themselves for its permanent and complete abolition and banning as it will help in controlling population and poverty both”!

Now we are in November 2025 and why still we see no PM in last 79 years of independence taking any initiative of any kind 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 Arif Mohammad 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 as I have pointed out earlier also. He 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? What is Centre fearing?

Arif Mohammad Khan also points out that:
The Quran prescribes monogamy as a norm (24.32) and allows polygamy under very exceptional circumstances (4.2- 3). But the patriarchal mindset ignored the norm and adopted conditional permission as the regular law. If we no longer demand the right to have slave girls, then we can also reconsider polygamy, particularly in the light of the fact that the marriage contracts of the Prophet’s daughters had a provision to obligate their husbands not to take another woman during the lifetime of the wife.” In this context we need to note that the Kerala High Court also recently on October 30, 2025 in a leading case titled XXX & Anr vs State of Kerala & Ors held that no second marriage registration for Muslim man if first wife objects. Why should second marriage be allowed at the first instance in a nation that has become so hugely over-populated?

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 of independence 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 as per 1955 amendment restricting Hindus men and women to one even though earlier there was no limit?

The moot question is: Why polygamy was not completely abolished for one and all? 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? I have so many Muslim friends who come from good family and not even one has resorted to polygamy even though they have the freedom to do so. It is the poor Muslim men who resort to polygamy more as was pointed out first to me by my very best friend Sageer Khan and it only serves to further increase poverty which definitely cannot be ever justified under any circumstances!

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 after seventy years? My best friend Sageer Khan also always wanted Muslims to abolish polygamy as it is a very bad practice and cannot be ever condoned under any circumstances! 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 and extreme poverty in India.”

It is high time and Centre must now seriously ponder on it and stop dishing fake excuses most conveniently to justify continuance of polygamy on one pretext or the other! It has to be definitely taken most seriously that none other than the Allahabad High Court which is not only the biggest High Court in India but also the biggest High Court in the world in a most learned, laudable, landmark, logical and latest judgment titled Furkan And 2 Others vs State of UP and Another in Application u/s 528 BNSS No. – 14448 of 2025 that was pronounced as recently as on 08.05.2025 has in a significant observation on the scope of Muslim personal law has underscored clearly that though Islam permitted more than one marriage and allows up to four marriages, this concession is strictly conditional and prone to being ‘widely abused’ in practice and it even went against the mandate of Muslim law. Why should it then not be completely abolished as was done 70 years ago with Hindus and related religions without even a whimper of protest from anyone?

Of course, the ball is now in Centre’s court! It is for Centre to take the much needed and much pending 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 so very commendably by my very best friend Sageer Khan! No denying it!

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