NEW DELHI, July 20: Contrary to popular belief, Christians as a religious group are more polygamous than Muslims or Hindus and matrilineal Meghalaya has an extreme rate of polygamy, more than any other part of the country.
According to an official report of the Mumbai-based International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), working under the central government, polygyny is the highest among Christians in India, followed by Muslims and Hindus. Polygyny is the term used for the practice of one man having more than one wife at the same time.
According to the IIPS data, the rate of polygamy among Christians, as per the NFHS-5, is 2.1% against 1.9% among Muslims and 1.3% among Hindus.
Polygyny rate was found to be 0.5% among Sikhs during the period covered by NFHS-5, 1.3 per cent among Buddhists and 2.5 per cent among “others” (religion/caste group not stated).
This is different from the term polygamy which refers to the practice of one person being married to more than one person at the same time, with the initial person being either male or female as per anthropological studies. The difference is subtle and normally polygamy also refers to one man marrying more than one woman.
The latest research on polygyny tendencies by IIPS, a deemed-to-be-university, and an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is based on the data collected from the fifth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) conducted between 2019 and 2021. NFHS data is based on the statements of married women who stated that their husbands had other wives besides themselves.
As per districts wise analysis, high rate of polygyny exists in East Jaintia Hills (20%) followed by West Jaintia Hills (14.5%), West Khasi (10.9%), South West Khasi Hills (6.4 %), Ri-Bhoi (6.2%), East Khasi Hills (5.8%), all in Meghalaya. The other districts are Kra Daadi (16.4%), East Kameng (10.2%), Papum Pare (6.9%), Kurung Kumey (6.6%), Lower Subansiri (5%), Upper Subansiri (4.9%), all in Arunachal Pradesh.
According to the research, the national average of polygyny is 1.4%, indicating a declining trend, because it was 1.9% during NHFS-3 (2006-2006) and 1.6% during NHFS-4 (2015-16). The research says that polygyny decreased in almost every state from 2015-16 to 2019-21, with the exception of nine states (Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Tripura, Maharashtra, and Puducherry).
Though the polygyny is not legal in India for any community other than Muslims, the IIPS research says it is still prevalent among non-Muslims in various parts of the country. Polygyny in India is more prevalent in Northeastern states including Sikkim bordering Nepal.
According to the report, Meghalaya (6.1%), has the maximum number of polygyny followed by Mizoram (4.1%), Sikkim (3.9%) and Arunachal Pradesh (3.7%) in the Northeast.
Ironically, Lakshadweep with almost 100% of Muslim population and Jammu & Kashmir with the overwhelming majority of Muslims have only 0.5 % and 0.4% of polygyny, respectively. The rate of polygyny among Christians, as per the NFHS-5, is 2.1% against 1.9% among Muslims and 1.3% among Hindus.
The study indicates that polygynous marriages are more prevalent among women who had no formal education (2.4%) than among those who had higher educational (0.3%) qualifications. Polygyny was most prevalent among the poorest women and women who had no formal education.
It is also most prevalent in rural areas (1.6%) than in urban areas (0.6%). Polygyny is also more prevalent among poorer people (2.4%) and very less (0.5%) among rich people.
