“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of I women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens”[1]
Introduction
The Constitution of India provides equal rights to women and men but there are still some Personal laws under which the position of women is different. The major areas under which the status of women is different are inheritance laws, maintenance laws, and divorce laws. Uniform civil code is required to end these imbalances. In reality, all personal laws whether Hindu, Parsi, or Muslim provides the different (unequal) position of women.
Hindu law
Daughters did not pose equal rights in the property as compared to sons under the Hindu Succession Act 1956. However, after the amendment in 2005, this inequality was repealed. Before this amendment, married daughter didn’t have any right to reside in the parental house before the divorce.[2]
In the Hindu religion, the consent of women for marriage is not taken in most of the cases. Marriage decisions are mostly taken by adults of the family. A married woman is also not allowed to adopt a child.[3] Apart from this, a widow has a right to inherit her husband’s property but her husband can also transfer it to someone else through a will. The female heirs to male Hindu Intestate property have no right to ask for partition until the division did itself by the male heirs.
Muslim law
Many provisions under Muslim law are discriminatory for females. Marriage is regarded as a contract between both husband and wife. Mahr, which is a gift from the girl’s side, is compulsory at the time of marriage. There’s no secific age for marriage under Muslim law. The age of puberty is considered as the age of marriage.
Apart from this for witnesses in marriage, there must be two adult male witnesses or one male and two female the witnesses. It clearly means that two females are equal to one male adult. Polygamy is also one of the main issues in a Muslim marriage. A Muslim man can marry a maximum of four women.
Conclusion
There are many provisions in personal laws that are discriminatory to women. Due to the patriarchal Set up of society, these discriminatory laws are still prevailing. These provisions need to be changed. There must be a Uniform law to maintain an equal position of women. Many major amendments are ending these discriminatory provisions but there are still many which are yet to be amended.
References
[1] Michelle Obama
[2] Section 23 of Hindu Succession Act 1956
[3]the Malti Roy Chowdhary vs. Sudhrindhnath Majumdar (AIR 2007)
This blog is written by Riddhi Chadha, Fairfield Institute of Management & Technology.
Some of her Blogs-
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Please correct your knowledge , mahr is not gift from girl’s side it is from Bridegroom’s side and must, Dowry is prohibited but in subcontinent copied by Hindus.consent of women in marriage is must, she can reject,
1/3 of property.