Editing Polygamy in India

'''[[Polygamy]]''' has existed in '''[[India]]''' since the [[Vedic period]] and is still practiced in the 21st century.<ref name="merinews">{{cite web
 | title = Polygamy: Is this a new trend?
 | url = http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15712413
 | accessdate = 2009-03-09
 | date = 2009-03-01}}</ref> Until 1955 [[Hindu Marriage Act]] there was no prohibition for  polygamy for [[Hindu]]s and other non-[[Muslim]]s in India,<ref name="act">{{cite web
 | title = THE HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955
 | url = http://www.sudhirlaw.com/HMA55.htm
 | accessdate = 2009-03-09
 | date = 1955-05-18}}</ref>
According to the 1961 census (the last census to record such data), polygamy was actually less prevalent among Indian Muslims (5.7%) than among several other religious groups.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/sunday-toi/view-from-venus/Bigamy-An-issue-of-one-too-many/articleshow/5004493.cms | work=The Times of India | title=Bigamy: An issue of one too many | first=Divya | last=A | date=13 September 2009 | accessdate=22 May 2010}}</ref>  Incidence was highest among [[Adivasi]]s (15.25%) and Buddhists (7.9%); Hindus, by comparison, had an incidence of 5.8%.<ref>"''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Fn7GhTpJ4esC&pg=PA148&lpg#v=onepage&q&f=false Communal Politics: Facts Versus Myths]''". [[Ram Puniyani]]. p.148. ISBN 0761996672.</ref><ref>"''[http://books.google.com/books?id=uDVHN6xkdiMC&pg=PA78#v=onepage&q&f=false Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam and Modernity Among the Daudi Bohras]''". Jonah Blank. p.78. ISBN 0226056767.</ref>. Although there are movements to end polygamy,<ref name="indiatimes">{{cite web
 | title = End polygamy, Muslim woman pleads with SC -India-The Times of India
 | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/41545339.cms
 | accessdate = 2009-03-09
 | date = 2001-05--12}}</ref> some Muslims seek to preserve the practice.<ref name="dnaindia">{{cite web
 | last = Sebastian
 | first = Don
 | title = DNA: India: Kerala Muslim cleric vows to preserve polygamy
 | url = http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1205615
 | accessdate = 2009-03-09
 | date = 2008-11-12}}</ref>

[[Ainatu family]]

==Conversion to Islam for polygamy==
There have been many incidents of non-Muslim men converting to Islam solely with the purpose of practicing polygamy legally. For example, actor [[Dharmendra]] has been reported to have converted to Islam so that he could legally marry actress [[Hema Malini]] as his second wife.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.hindu.com/2004/04/19/stories/2004041905451100.htm |title= Case against Dharmendra |accessdate=2009-05-26 |author=PTI |date=2004-04-19 |work= The Hindu}}</ref>. In December 2008, a controversy arose when the then Deputy Chief Minister of [[Haryana]], [[Chander Mohan]], and Anuradha Bali, the former Assistant Advocate General of Haryana, converted to Islam adopting the names Chand Mohammad and Fiza, so that Mohan could marry Bali as his second wife. Such incidents have raised concerns over the use of Islam for polygamy.<ref name="chand_fiza">{{cite web
 | title = Chand-Fiza talaq: Ulema now talk of screening
 | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Lucknow/Chand-Fiza-talaq-Ulema-now-talk-of-screening-/articleshow/4265619.cms
 | accessdate = 2009-05-28
 | date = 2009-03-15}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polygamy In India}}
[[Category:India]]
[[Category:Polygamy by country|India]]