524 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Dr. Mono Mohan Das (West Bengal : General): And that has increased the number of Muslims in the country.
Mr. Speaker : Order, order.
The subject before us is not the structure of society. We are discussing only certain provisions in the Hindu Code. So let us not go into too many details or go on to other questions. Otherwise I will have to ask the honourable Member to discontinue.
Mr. Naziruddin Ahmad : If you allow shares, to the daughter, there will be wholesale evasions, and lots of cases relating to wills will come up. When the father dies, there will be wills. In fact, it will lead to lots of litigation. The sons will try to retain the property in their own hands and it may be that the dying father may be prevailed upon to execute a will under duress, or wills may be manufactured. Such things do happen. In fact, these are certain matters which have got to be considered.
Sir, then there is the general aspect of inheritance. In fact, this is a matter which should be carefully considered.
Then, I come to another part of the Bill, namely, marriage. In fact, with regard to monogamy. I submit that monogamy is good in theory, and good in practice also. And I also believe that numerous people would not have two wives. One is costly and troublesome enough. In fact, two wives would be a rarity. It is a rarity. I do not find two wives very common. It is extremely rare. It is only confined to very exceptional cases. Exigencies of political or economic conditions make it impossible for any one to marry two wives. But the point is whether we should try to introduce monogamy by legislation or by public opinion. There may be a tendency on the part of some men to marry two wives, not for the sake of caprice, but lor the sake of having a son. According to the Hindus, a son is needed to save the father from a certain Naraka, called puth. A person who saves you from Puth is called ‘Puthra’, the son. Otherwise the man goes to a certain hell called puth. It is a religious necessity according to the Hindus to have a son and to have a son means that if the wife is barren, he tries to marry another. It has happened within my experience, and it may be within the experience of many others that a second marriage of the husband has been brought about because the first wife is barren. I have seen very happy families, where the senior wife without a child actually induced or compelled the husband to marry a second wife, and the senior wife considered herself absolutely