DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 235
on account of freedom marriages between members of different castes take place. But they find themselves in great difficulty on account of this doctrine of Hindu Law. I know, not one or two, but dozens of cases where the parties merely profess to marry under the Civil Marriage Act, though they do not want to do it; they hated doing it; they do not want to disturb the joint family; they do not want that the succession Act should apply to them; they do not want to separate themselves from their parents; but because of the unfortunate state of the law, they have to marry under the Civil Marriage Act. Therefore, I submit, Sir, this a crying grievance which requires to be remedied as early as possible. I am glad that the mover has accepted your suggestion about the 28th of February and this Bill should be passed as early as possible.
There is one little point which I should like to mention and I am sure this deflect will be duly rectified in the Select Committee. The words as they stand are:
Notwithstanding any text, rule, interpretation of Hindu Law, or any custom or usage to the contrary, no marriage among Hindus is or will he deemed to be invalid by reason of the fact that the parties thereto belong to different religions, castes or sub-castes.
This might lead possibly to a construction that this provision only applies to marriages between parties who are alive. I think it should be made perfectly clear that even marriages of this character which have taken place in the past and in respect of which the question of succession arises should be deemed valid hereafter. I am sure proper rectification will be made in the Select Committee. I therefore, Sir, heartily support this motion.
Shri Deshbandhu Gupta (Delhi): I rise to support the motion which is before the House just as my honourable friend, Shri Munshi has pointed out, I also feel that it is a really very important measure. For many years one tiling which has been standing in the way of Hindu solidarity and also in the way of our national solidarity is this division of the Hindu society in castes. I feel the time has come when we should pass a measure like this which seeks to abolish these artificial barriers without any further delay. I know of instances where some of my close friends who did not believe in civil marriages had to resort to civil marriages, simply because they happened to choose a mate which belonged to a different caste. You are aware, Sir, that the Arya Samaj has always been a believer in caste system by ‘ Guna and Karma' . In spite of the fact that the founder of the Arya Samaj