Vol. 14, Part I · pages 536–540

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES518 immovable properties, all was desert, and the properties consisted of movable. When a man died .................. Mr. Tajamul Husain (Bihar: Muslim): On a point of information, may I ask this. The honourable Member says that in Arabia there was no immoveable property. What about the houses ? Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : The question is needless. I will ask the honourable member to read a very learned book of Von. Kremer, a German authority, on “The Orient Under the Caliphs”. That book will give the desired information. There is a translation of it by the Late Mr. Khuda Baksh. It is the only book on the subject. It has dealt the entire subject from a specialist’s point of view. I will humbly ask my honourable friend to read that book for further elucidation, but I am not concerned with giving the entire details of it in the House because that is not quite relevant. I was submitting that my learned friend’s question as to there being absence of immovable properly does not really arise. Arabia consisted, certainly, of immovable property also but most people had no immovable property. ( Interruption). No further interruption. I have been asked by the honourable the Speaker not to mind interruptions but it is difficult to close one’s ears to what is happening. An Honourable Member : Close your mouth. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I shall as soon as I feel satisfied that I have discharged my duty and as soon as I feel that the majority do not want to hear me. I shall certainly do it. Sir, in that book the whole history has been given. When a man died. He left a bedstead or some clothing or a horse or camel and things of that sort, and according to old Arabian customs they were divided among the near relatives. No trouble arose. The Qoran does not give any specific share to each individual. The present system of inheritence is a growth of the old Arab custom and amended and changed by Muslim doctors, especially by that great authority on Muslim Law, Abu Hanifa and others. I need not go into that. All that I was concerned in saying was that the Muslim approach is a matter of history. Whether good or bad is not to the point, and the fact that I oppose the share of the Hindu daughter is not because I am unwilling to give my Hindu sisters what I would give to my Muslim sisters. If what is good to a Muslim depends upon ancient customs and sentiments what is good to a Hindu should also depend upon the ancient customs and sentiments of the Hindus. When the Arabs conquered the areas surrounding the

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 519 Mediterranean difficulties arose because they acquired immovable property. It is a matter of history that they felt the difficulty of a large number of shareholders inheriting the property leading thus to disruption. Then it was that the system of wakf, which we now find today, was thought of. Some passages in the Holi Book were developed by Muslim divines and they tried to develop the law of wakf That was now they wanted to counteract the evil effect of division. In India the law of wakf was further developed by Indian courts and especially by the Privy Council and this to a large extent thwarted the application of the wakf law in domestic purposes. It is well-known that Mr. Jinnah, in 1913, brought a Bill in the House and got an Act passed—the wakf Act—which recognised the validity of certain wakfs which were regular in practice among the Muslims. This was an attempt to counteract the evil effect of infinitesimal divisions. The Muslim approach to the division of property is entirely different. The outlook of a Muslim is individualistic. In fact, the infinitesimal division induces in them separatist tendencies. Brothers do not live in the joint family for long; they quickly divide. We have seen a separatist tendency on a large scale in recent Indian history. So, the approach of a Muslim is individualistic whereas the approach of a Hindu is from the family point of view. The Hindu lives in a family. There the unit is the family and they approach the women’s rights from the point of view of a family. The Muslim approach is different. In fact women in a Hindu family are not unequal to men, the question of inequality as has been pointed out does not really arise; they are equal to men in every way but each has a recognised part in the economy of the Hindu family. That is the way of approach of the question. Although I do not question the authority of this House to legislate on any matter, I question only the propriety of this House entering into this legislation without discussing and going into details of the system under which the Hindu civilisation has lived. The position of a Hindu widow should be considered from that angle and if on adequate consideration it appears that the system is rotten, it is for the Hindu society to change it. It is not for me to change it. It is up to me only to point out certain things which come to my mind as a member of the Legislature; it is not my vote that will carry; the vote of the majority will carry. I have a duty to submit certain points as they appear to me. I submit therefore that the Hindu law is not unjust to the female. It has done full justice to the female considering her as a part of the family system where she has a part

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES520 to play. In fact, in this legislature we have different parts to play. There is no question of inequality or discrimination. We have all parts to play. In these circumstances I submit that the position of the Hindu women has to be considered from this point of view. The division amongst Muslims has gone too far. How the share of a daughter leads to disruption of the family is worthy of consideration. As soon as a man dies, leaving sons and daughters, the daughters at once inherit their shares. They are married and in a majority of cases they are transported to different families. In fact, intermarriage in Muslim Law is a device to counteract infinitesimal division. There is again a provision that in case person having a share transfers the property to an outsider, the original co-sharers have been given the right to re-purchase the share on payment of the price. But as every lawyer knows, a suit for presumption is hedged in with so many legal difficulties that it hardly succeeds. The Wakf is another attempt to counteract this tendency. The share to a Muslim daughter has not conduced to the solidarity of the family property. Mr. Tajamul Husain : I do not wish to interrupt, but as it is a case of Muslim Law, I am interested in it. I want to know from my honourable friend whether he does not approve of the inheritance as enunciated under Muslim law ? Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : I should submit that the question does not arise. Mr. Tajamul Husain : It is for the Speaker to say whether it arises or not. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : Even then, I shall not be drawn into a controversy over this. How the Muslim family deteriorates and desintegrates, is a matter of long experience to us, as also I believe to many lawyers like yourself. When a daughter is married, for some time family amity keeps them together, but a time comes when the daughter comes to her father’s house and a misunderstanding arises between the daughter and the brother’s wife. Women differ on more unsubstantial matters than men. They being more sensitive differ. Shri Mahavir Tyagi : You are casting aspersions on women. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : It is not casting aspersions. It is analysing their character. The sentimental nature of women makes them more attractive, more interesting and more loving. If women were as hard-hearted, as strong, as rugged, as we are, life would have been

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 521 impossible. In fact, it is the beauty of feminine nature that they are so different from men. It is the union of two distinct types that makes life bearable and happy. So it is not by way of disparagement that I was making this remark. When the daughter gets offended with her sister-in-law, she goes back to her husband and says “I want my share.” Then the trouble 12 NOON begins sooner or later. It has happened in every home. The sister’s husband comes to his brother-in-law and demands a share and it is refused and then he wants to sell the share to the brother. The brother of course would not be willing or able to pay the full price demanded, so this man goes to another man in the village and sells the property for a small cash and a promise of more after the trouble is over. Then some physical demonstration of new right begins. A criminal or civil case follows. From ordinary injury to murder, from registration proceedings to partition proceedings and so on. Lawyers will be thankful if this Bill is passed, because it will give them a considerable amount of business. Litigation begins and does not end in five or ten or twenty years. Litigation after litigation follows in bewildering succession and the whole village is rent with party factions. If there are only several brothers, they can live together and manage the properties together, although their wives may quarrel with each other. Brothers hardly quarrel. In this way the Hindu joint family system goes on. There is nothing inherently different between a Muslim family and Hindu family except in this. Muslims have been habituated to think of partition and individualistic life. The Hindu is habituated to joint and corporate life. Probably, very few of my esteemed Hindu friends can visualise the real difficulty that would arise out of the daughter’s share. In fact, it is never a gain to the daughter. There is a corresponding loss to counterbalance the gain. Suppose out of a litigation and a share a daughter is enriched to that extent. She goes to her husband’s house and has her own sons and daughters. All that she takes from her brother, her daughter will take from her sons. Instead of considering the women individually and separately, if we consider her as part of family life, then the gain is not counterbalanced by the loss. I submit that the daughter’s share will introduce endless complications and litigation, quarrel and misunderstanding and what not. In fact, it is my unhappy experience that no prosperous Muslim family has lasted for three generations. This and other things make them paupers. The point is not whether the system is good or bad.

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES522 Muslims have accepted it as part of their religion and will accept it so long as the majority do not think it is bad. So far as Hindus are concerned they have accepted their system and unless the majority are convinced that that system under which they have been thriving and been made so prominent, a system which has outlived many ravages of foreign invasions, unless they are convinced that that system is bad, there should be no interference. My point is that comparison between the Hindu sister and Muslim sister would be extremely dangerous, because their positions are not analogous and actually there are differentiating elements which arise from different histories, considerations and environments. Therefore, there is no simple analogy between the position of the Hindu sister and the Muslim sister. I think the effect of a daughter’s share must be considered dispassionately in all conceivable aspects. It is not a net gain to the daughter herself. It leads to fragmentation. I would not have referred to this in detail but for the fact that on 9th April when the Bill was sent to Select Committee, I referred to this mischievous tendency and Mrs. Hansa Mehta expressed surprise that the daughter’s share would lead to litigation or fragmentation of property. It is due to the fact that perhaps the mischief which we have experienced has fortunately not been experienced in the Hindu society. It is for this reason that there was a possibility of misunderstanding, and that is why I have referred to this matter. I submit, Sir, that the position of the daughter must be considered in the context of Hindu ideas and of Hindu families. Every one is affectionately disposed towards her. She is well married, and at the time of marriage various gifts are made, there is the dowry and besides that large properties too are sometimes given. And she is a welcome guest in her father’s house. But if you give her a share, then the relations between the brothers and sisters will no longer be one of affection, but it will turn into one of business, one of hostile and clashing interests. In fact, love will be extinct, if the daughters’ shares are allowed to penetrate the folds of Hindu society. Sir, these are some considerations which I believe should be considered dispassionately. Shri Mahavir Tyagi : What is your experience ? Mr. Speaker : Order, order. Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : My experience is that we have become impoverished. If Hindu society thinks that impoverishment is a virtue they are welcome to accept the system. After all we hear talks of