Vol. 14, Part I · pages 321–325

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 303 I am afraid that as soon as the will comes in, neither the sons nor the daughters would be able to share the property under the provision of this law which seeks to confer upon them the right of succession. All that property will be grabbed by the lawyers. Then again another thing will happen. The Honourable Dr. Ambedkar wants that the daughters should also be given the right of succession to the property. Then I would submit that in our society which is undivided at present, when the fathers execute the will, they will not bequeath anything to their daughters, but would give to the sons alone, and thus this would defeat the very object with which you want to confer the right of succession on the women. In regard to succession, I would like to say that just as Dr. Ambedkar has himself admitted, it is a very intricate subject. It so looks to us—we might or might not be Socialists or Communists—that on the one hand the industrialists have raised the voice that the industries are not being developed in this country and on the other hand the question of succession has been mooted out. Therefore, the best thing would be that you should abolish the system of private property. If after the liquidation of this private ownership, a new society is evolved—I do not say that the structure of that society should be based on the principles of Socialism and Communism—but I have since formed this opinion that a new class of society should be built after the liquidation of the individual holdings. If our capitalists see to this they will no doubt find that this wealth is no longer a source of solace to them. I belong to that very class which can be termed as capitalist. But we see who is deriving the real pleasure out of this hoarded wealth ? I have not come across any such capitalist who can fill his belly by eating and digesting 10 or 20 seers, while a poor man can be satiated by taking half a seer or three quarter of a seer. I have also not seen any such capitalist who puts on about 100, 200 or 400 yards of cloth at a time, while a poor man can cover his body with only five or six yards. The Honourable Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (Minister of Education): Some people do war ! Seth Govind Das : I am accustomed to live in palaces, and I would like to say that if any capitalist is made to sleep in one of the large halls of his palace, he cannot enjoy the sleep. For sleeping purpose, only one room measuring about 12 or 14 feet is required. Now-adays wealth has become an affliction—for the wealthy too. Those

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES304 people who do not get this, they desire to acquire it and those who have got it suffer great hardships and on account of that they cannot live peacefully. The Honourabel Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad : And they do not want us to give up also ! Seth Govind Das : They do not want to give up because the man who discards that wealth is looked upon with great esteem in the society. Shri Sita Ram S. Jajoo (Madhya Bharat) : The man who renounces this or gives it in charity is also equally respected. Seth Govind Das : It is alleged by our Socialists and Communists that all the capitalists are robbers, dacoits and wayfarers. Some of the Socialists, Communists might differ from this. I cannot ascribe this to all of them. But many of them would renounce their Socialistic and Communistic creed if they can acquire this wealth. The hoarders of wealth are even today held in esteem by the society. We should try to overhaul the conceptions and values of the society in such a manner so that the capitalists may in reality be treated as dacoits and robbers; and then only I would say that no capitalist would like to wear this collar around his neck. Therefore, with a view to tackle this knotty problem of succession, I would urge that our Honourable Law Minister Dr. Ambedkar may bring forth such a measure which should seek to abolish the system of private ownership and thus ameliorate the condition of those people who have fallen a victim to this. Shrimati G. Durgabai (Madras : General): Will you not oppose that? Seth Govind Das: In my opinion these are the only two points in this Bill which are subject to good deal of controversy. I am also of the opinion that keeping in view the trend of the time and without indulging into any sort of controversy, we postpone the enactment of this Bill till the formation of the new Assembly and in the meantime invite the opinion of the people in this connection; and after ascertaining the wishes of the people, we should bring forth this measure as soon as the fresh elections are held. We should not present this measure in the form of a Hindu Code but the proper course would be to pass it in the same manner in which we have passed our constitution which provides for the rights of every citizen in the country. Dr. Mono Mohan Das (West Bengal; General): On a point of order, Sir, is there no time limit for allowing this kind of discussion ?

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 305 Mr. Deputy Speaker : There is no time limit. Seth Govind Das : With these words I would conclude, and say that I feel it absolutely necessary that reforms should be made in our social laws. I also admit this that those people who oppose this Bill in the same manner in which they behaved at the time of the enactment of laws relating to the abolition of Sati, widow-marriage and prevention of child marriges are not following the right course of action. But along with this I also admit that this Bill has not been moved at the opportune time and we should postpone its consideration at the moment. We should present it only after ascertaining the public opinion. With these words, neither I support this, nor oppose this. * Shrimati Sucheta Kripalani (U. P.: General): Sir, ever since we had a sovereign legislature, no piece of legislation has given rise to greater excitement and controversy than this Hindu Code Bill. If all this controversy had been based on reason and on the merits of the changes proposed in Hindu Law it would have been to the good but much of the controversy is clouded by irrelevent issues. The argument of Religion in Danger has inspired much of the propaganda against the Code. It is urged that it will shake the foundation of the Hindu religion. Those who put forward such argument do a great injustice to their own religion. Hindu religion is primarily concerned with the spiritual emancipation of the individual, his progress towards self-realisation. The self-fulfilment of an individual stands in need of certain moral and spiritual principles as truth, justice, non-violence, etc. These are embodied in our scriptures. These are unchangeable and fundamental. The social arrangements, institutions, conversations and customs that have evolved through the ages are not religion. The Hindu Code does not seek to disturb the Hindu religion but to amend and modify the Hindu civil law. The law has changed from time to time. It is different from religion and has never been unchangeable and static. The authors of the Dharma Shastras changed the law from time to time according to the consciousness of the community at the time. The right to make changes was well recognised by the Dharma Shastra. The Hindu law became rigid and static only after the advent of the British. It has been the boast of Hinduism that while the fundamentals have remained unchanged, the Hindu social institutions have changed to suit changing circumstances. Continuous adaptability has been the strength and essence of Hinduism. Unless Hindu society is to remain *C.A. (Leg.) D., Vol. II, Part II, 24th February 1949, pp. 866-924.

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES306 static and dead the law must change to fit with the changing circumstances. We also know that the Smrities have not remained unchanged. The smrities did include other branches of law besides those of succession and marriage. These have been dealt with by the Indian legislature and some of them have been superseded. Hindu religion did not flounder. Hindu religion has survived that shock. If Hindu religion could survive the shock of these changes I am sure Hindu society and religion can survive the shock of a little more change. We have also brought in social legislation of great importance. We have abolished the Sati: we have abolished child marriage : we have also abolished to a great extent untouchability. Hindu religion is a very catholic and liberal religion. So the argument of religion in danger does not behave us. Within the fold of this liberal and catholic religion people of various views, customs and manners have found shelter and lived. Today what has happened ? Why have we lost our faith in our own religion that we are raising the cry of religion in danger ? It does not mean that I want to say that all those who oppose us are orthodox and are reactionaries. I only want to point out that in forcing your point of view, you are only doing injustice to your religion when you put forward this argument. Another argument is this that this Bill should not have been taken up for consideration now and that we have not given the country sufficient opportunity to get acquainted with the provisions of the Bill. As far as I know this Bill has been before the House and before the country for about the last ten years. Some of the measures embodied in the Bill as Succession Bill and Marriage Bill, I think, were introduced in the House in 1943. The Hindu Law Committee was appointed in 1944. Its Report was published, I think, in 1945 or 1946 and the draft Bill has been translated into thirteen Indian languages. Thousands of copies of this draft Bill have been circulated. Even after this if we do not know the provisions of the Hindu Code Bill, then, it is our fault and not the fault of the Government. Besides that the Bill won’t be passed in a day here. We will take a lot of time to consider it. It will take a good deal of time when we consider it in detail. At that time we will have enough opportunity to go to the public, to acquaint them with the provisions of the Bill and also to ascertain their opinion. There is a whispering propoganda, a very strange propoganda, that this Bill should be postponed till after the next general election. Why should it be postponed ? Because this may adversely

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 307 affect our party’s popularity ? Is it befitting or worthy of the Congress to put forward such arguments ? Have we ever considered our popularity before our duty ? If we think that a Bill is just, if we consider that a Bill is for the good of the people then it is our duty to go ahead with it. To shelve a Bill just in order to catch votes for the next election is not right. I think it is not even honest. For us the good of the people has always been the supreme consideration. If we don’t take this point of view, if we don’t keep this attitude before us, we will never be able to sponsor any radical change. Whatever be the field of our life when a radical change is sought to be made, we are bound to come against some vested interests and some established custom. There is always bound to be a cry against such changes. If we give up reform on that score then we shall never change anything. I would like to say this. Much has been said about the volume of opinion against the Hindu Code Bill. I would like to say with all humility that there is also a very good group—an intelligent, thoughtful group— supporting the measure too. And that intelligent, thoughtful group does not consist of women alone. We have a lot of brothers with us in this measure. We have also seen in history in other countries whenever a radical change was introduced, whenever any reform was sought to be brought into being, it was a small conscious minority that forms up the cause, that educated the public, that did propioganda and after some time public opinion veered round it. So I am sure though it may be that there is a volume of opinion against the Hindu Code, if what we are trying to do is just and right, I am more than sure that public opinion will come with us. Not only will it come with us but it will bless us after a time for the good ( An Honourable Member: “It is already with us”) measure that we have passed. They say, they have got the majority with them. So this is my answer. In the heat and controversy many times we forget that the Bill does not consist of merely the Succession and the Marriage provisions. We have tried to make a uniform and entire system of law. In this entire system of law or Code we have tried to put right a lot of discrepancies, inequities, and injustices. For instance this morning Dr. Ambedkar in his learned speech told us how the provisions regarding guardianship, maintenance, adoption etc. are going to be beneficial to the society. Those who are totally opposed to the Bill have been forgetting the good side of the Bill, the non-controversial side, and have concentrated all their attack on such the entire Bill.