DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 365
been very welcome and in the right direction. That would have been according to the idea which is fundamentally behind the joint family system. It is the family which is taken as a unit of society and not an individual. Conceived from this point of view, no sister of mine need think that she has been ill treated, because she and her brother enjoy equal rights in this respect. I would therefore submit for the consideration of the Honourable Dr. Ambedkar that in such a vast country like India, nothing would be lost if there are separate experiments on social units. If it is wanted that a individual should be a unit, let that experiment be tried somewhere. If the joint family should be the unit of society let that experiment also be continued in some places. We are a sufficiently large country to have different experiments in society. Let both continue and let the persons choose the law or system they want to follow. So, instead of having one codified uniform law for the 20 crores of India, nothing would be lost if we have more than one system prevailing in this country.
I may in this connection refer to one of the observations made by Dr. Ambedkar. I admire him for his erudition. I heard him with respect, because in the cause of his arguments he never descended to have a fling at somebody. His attacks were heavy, but they were straight and level. But, in the course of his remarks the other day, in the course of his otherwise lucid speech, he said that he did not know why the Brahmans of old were engaged in comprising so many as 137 Smritis and enquired whether they had no better engagement. I believe when the Honourable Minister said this, his historical perspective left him for a moment. I may remind him that these 137 Smritis were not written simultaneously. They were written in a period covering more than 250 years at the least. Thus on the average it took them about 20 years to write each Smriti. That means one for every generation. But here what happens is that during the space of one year the Honourable Doctor prepares more Smritis than one. So he need not have indulged in that unedifying observation. It was also very unnecessary for the development of his argument.
Sir, I was dealing with joint family property. I submit that the basic principle of joint family property is this : that it allows restricted enjoyment.
Sir, the question is often asked, what is Hindu culture; what is Hindu religion as such ? Where angels fear to trend it is difficult for others like me to rush. All the same one has sometimes to make