The Indian state of Assam is executing a massive crackdown against child marriages in the state right now, arresting thousands of people involved in these marriages. Thousands of cases have been filed and most of them have resulted in arrests.
While most sane people have praised the Assam government for cracking down on child marriages, the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has strongly come out in support of child marriages.
First BBC published a piece titled, “Indian women protest against child marriage mass arrest”, trying to push the theory that Indian women are somehow in favor of child marriages. Interestingly, BBC in its own report says that child marriages are prevalent in India due to patriarchal traditions, and then goes on to support that patriarchy.
If one report wasn’t enough, BBC came back to affirm that they really support child marriages in another piece titled, “Assam: India child brides desperate after mass arrests”. In this piece, the BBC writer Zoya Mateen argued that arresting men involved in child marriages leaves their child brides without any support.
Once again, the BBC tried to imply that this crackdown on child marriages is somehow discriminatory against Muslims since they are mostly involved in child marriages. Coming from any other source, it would have counted as racist and Islamophobic, but somehow BBC can get away with saying that Muslims indulge in child marriages.
BBC also goes on to say that cracking down on such child marriages will force these marriages underground, so what are we supposed to do BBC, allow child marriages overground? Allow 60 years old men to marry 8 years old girls?
If BBC feels so strongly about child marriages, and in fact believes that child marriages are good for society, then why doesn’t BBC fight for child marriages in Britain?
The troubled history of BBC and pedophilia
BBC talking in support of child marriages is especially worrying because, for decades, BBC’s biggest star was pedophile Jimmy Savile. The “BBC legend” was famous for abusing children sexually, with the first of those allegations appearing in 1958, but they were ignored by BBC till 2011 when Savile died.
So an organization that eulogized Jimmy Savile coming out in support of child marriages is hardly a surprise, but the only surprising part is that why don’t they do it in Britain? Why should Indians cater to the pedophile tendencies of the Brits?
In case the BBC didn’t notice, British Raj in India ended in 1947, and you no longer get to tell us what we should do. It is about time you focus on Britain, where grooming gangs are targeting teenage girls in Britain, and don’t worry about the crackdown on child marriages elsewhere.