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
begins sooner or later. It has happened in every home. The
12 NOON 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.