Vol. 14, Part I · pages 706–710

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES688 business to get through during this session and there are not many days left over. Nevertheless, as I made it clear in the early stages, we want to give the fullest opportunity for this debate to be carried on and for as many members as possible to speak upon it. Naturally, this or any other debate, cannot be carried on indefinitely to the detriment of other public business. So Government have stated that they want to give as much time as possible, subject to the debate terminating and ending. I am perfectly prepared, on behalf of Government, to allot another day, that is tomorrow, subject to two provisos : one that the debate terminates tomorrow ; second that we sit on Saturday to conduct other business of the House. Shri Mahavir Tyagi : Sir, may I suggest that it is very difficult for us to sit on Saturday. The Hon. the Prime Minister might just find time, because he has not to devote much time in the House. But we have to sit from morning till evening and in the evenings we have to attend meetings of Select Committees, besides attending to our other engagements. We have also to go through the various papers received by us, draft amendments and send them. Saturday and Sunday are the only two days when we can do that work. I would request you , Sir, not to take Saturday. Pandit Govind Malaviya (U. P. : General) : I have to submit, Sir, that this measure is one in which the whole country seems to be more interested than it has been in any other measure. Members of this House should be allowed full opportunity of expressing themselves about it. So long as there is a single member of this House, no matter whether he is in favour of the motion or against it, who as a representative of the people, wishes to have a say on this Bill, we should allow time for it. If we cannot find time for it tomorrow, Government should give more days for the discussion of the Bill. I submit that it will not be fair to the people of this country or to the Members here, that anybody who desires to express his opinion about this measure should not be allowed to do so. Mr. Deputy Speaker : The hon. the Prime Minister has already said that he will allot one more official day for the discussion of this Bill. There are a number of other Bills which have been referred to Select Committees and others whose Select Committee reports have been presented to the House. Having regard to the business that is yet to be done, the hon. the Prime Minister evidently thinks that not more than one day can be allowed for the Hindu Code Bill. So far as that matter is concerned, it is an official day and I am completely

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 689 in the hands of the Government. It is for the House to agree or to reject. I have nothing more to say in this matter. So far about twenty-seven Members have spoken and we have taken over seven days and nineteen plus five, twenty-four hours. Dr. P. S. Deshmukh : How many are waiting to speak ? Maulana Hasrat Mohani (U. P. : Muslim) : What is the guarantee that we will be able to finish the discussion even tomorrow ? Mr. Deputy Speaker : I have about thirty-four names still who want to speak. The matter stands there and only tomorrow is allotted as an official day for the conduct of this business. It is for the House to consider it tomorrow. Now, as regards Saturday, it will be fixed as an official day because tomorrow is being taken up by this. You can arrange for the Select Committees to meet on some other day. The House will now adjourn till 10-45 A. M. tomorrow. The Assembly then adjourned till a Quarter to Eleven of the Clock on Wednesday, the 14th December, 1949.

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES690 * HINDU CODE—contd. Mr. Deputy Speaker : I have received a letter from Mr. Kripalani that it was under a mis-understanding yesterday that he sat down. I thought that he had concluded his speech, He says that as soon as I got up, in deference to the Chair, he sat down. If that is so, I would like to give him an opportunity to continue his speech, but I would request him to conclude his speech in a very short time. †Acharya J. B. Kripalani (U. P. : General) : Sir, I thank you for the opportunity that you have given me to conclude my speech. I wanted to conclude it in a more serious manner. It appears to me that as a nation we lack a little humour and cannot penetrate to the serious purpose that lies behind the humour. My support to the Bill is wholehearted and it rests upon very sound grounds. It rests on the foundation of the character and tradition of Indian womanhood. Throughout history they have played a very distinguished part in our life and in our culture. In ancient names we have famous names who contributed to the learning of the times. Many of them were great writers, philosophers and poets. In mediaeval times when we were down and out, when wave after wave of foreign invasion came, our women confined themselves to the home with their ancient virtues undiminished. And when wounded and disappointed we went home they soothed our wounds and kept the home fires burning. They were a consolation to us. Not only that they kept our religion alive. They kept our traditions alive; they kept our culture alive. It is in Hindu homes with Hindu women that we find our culture and our religion at its best. Even today when gentlemen change their dresses, our women do not change theirs. It is this trait of Indian womanhood that was recognized by the Father of the Nation and that was so ably utilized by him. In our struggle for independence they stood shoulder to shoulder with us. Very often I know, they had to suffer more than we had to suffer. Even when some of them did not bear lathi charges and did not go to jails, I know the privations that they had to suffer and they suffered them cheerfully. They have always helped us in every way and I suppose it ill-behoves us to think that they are thinking of themselves alone. After all the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. They know what handicaps they are suffering from. I am *C.A. (Leg.) D., Vol. VI, Part II, 14th December 1949, pp. 560-621. †Ibid, pp. 560-62.

DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 691 sorry that a Member from Bengal should be very enthusiastic against this Bill not knowing the conditions of the widows in Bengal. I have seen them with my own eyes. Shri Suresh Chandra Majumdar (West Bengal : General) : Not all Bengal Members are. Acharya J. B. Kripalani : I was talking only of one Member who is very enthusiastic against the Bill. As I was saying the wearer knows where the shoe pinches. I have no doubt that even when women get what they want, their traditional devotion to home, to their menfolk will not diminish and I have every reason to believe this. Sir, I am associated with women who may be considered as modern and you will excuse me if I give you a peep into my home life. You know and the House knows Mrs. Kripalani, but you know only her public activity. Sjt. Rohini Kumar Chaudhari (Assam : General) : On a point of order. Sir. Can you discuss about Mrs. Kripalani who is not present in the House ? Acharya J. B. Kripalani : Of course, I would seriously object if the Member discussed her, but I thought I had a little right to discuss her. As I was saying, she takes her full part in public life, but as soon as she is at home she is as good a housewife as any ancient woman. Though I do not like anybody to do physical work for me, I can tell you that when I am not looking, she does everything for me, including the brushing of my chappals and the washing of my clothes. I have also had the privilege of seeing other women who are considered modern. I am acquainted rather intimately with those Members whom you see only in the House, and I have seen them in their home surroundings with their children, with their husbands, with their brother and I have no hesitation in saying that they lack none of the virtues of the old but they have added a new virtue to enrich their life, that of public activity and public work. Sir, I come from a community in Sind where most of the women are educated and according to modern ideas they may be considered even fashionable, but when I go to their homes I have marked the pathetic way they love their husbands, their children and their brothers. An Honourable Member : Why pathetic ? Acharya J. B. Kripalani : I advisedly use the word because you do not know that this love of theirs is a very inconvenient thing to us menfolk, However much we may try to dominate the home and

DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES692 make our will prevail, they go round us in such a manner, with such devoted service, with such faithfulness, with such steadfastness, with such patience that I have yet to see husbands in the world who are more henpecked than the Indian husbands. They always stoop to conquer. I have seen these modern ladies highly educated, as educated as ourselves, and I have found that, under their skin they are as ancient as any of their ancient sisters. I think those people who are married to old orthodox ladies and who have seen their devotion, if they were to see the devotion of the new, they will be surprised to see that there has been no change at all; and these women want that certain disabilities of theirs be taken away. It is said that, if women are given inheritance, love between brother and sister will diminish. I do not think that the love of our sisters is made of such flimsy stuff. It has centuries of tradition behind. I have seen sisters slaving away so that their brothers may be educated and find themselves on their feet. I have seen them sacrificing for the family. I come from a community where there is no joint family, where as soon as the son is married, he separates and lives alone, but I know because there is no joint family, there is greater love between the members of the family [ Hear hear ] and it was manifested recently when the Sindhis had to migrate from Sind and come to India. I have seen three or four families living together in one house. If anybody had a house outside, if anybody had settled outside Sind and he was living in India, that house was shared equally with nephews and cousins and in-laws and they bear the trouble of this terrible congestion very cheerfully. Many of them have to spend large sums of money. So this family love which has persisted for centuries is not going to end because there is a little change in the Hindu Law. As Sir Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar has told us, this law has always been changing. It is the pride of the Hindu religion that it has adjusted itself to changing circumstances, It is true to the old, yet it takes as much of the new as it is necessary for the healthy life of the community. Times have changed. If foreign rule had not been here, our Shastras would have changed; our law would have changed. Foreign rule made these laws very rigid, and it is time that we bring in some new life and new light into them, and this Bill is trying to do that. I am sure the Bill would be put into some shape and form in Committee and that there will be no complaints. I am sure that our home life is not going to be disturbed and I am 12 NOON