DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 551
have said that the rules of succession as laid down in this measure would not apply. Similarly in clause 7 although marriage between sapindas has been prohibited, it is said that it will be subject to local custom and so allowed where it prevails by custom. So the ghost of uniformity which haunts the draftsman of the measure is still there, and the so called freedom from slavery of women ends in nothing. I submit that those who want to deal with Hindu law and the place of women in Hindu society should look at the question not through Western glasses but through the glasses of our own civilisation. We must know how our own law-givers approached these very difficult and intricate questions. The views prevailing in eastern and western countries on these questions are diagonally opposite. Our life, we believe, has connection with our past life and will have connection with our future life; and therefore the rules of law will stand on a special footing. That is why our sages approached these questions from the point of view of the well-being of Hindu society as a whole. And in attempting to frame our law we have to keep in view the ideals that motivated our law givers in framing the law in a particular manner. Unless we can do that we cannot appreciate its value.
Sir, I would not mind if the Law Minister had honestly declared that this measure stands on its own merits, moulded on his ideas of Hindu society as it now exists. But what has pained me is that he asserts that its provisions are in consonance with the accepted principles of Hindu Law. It is well known that Satan can quote the Bible. I submit that every provision of this measure—whether in relation to marriage or divorce, adoption or inheritance—goes against the fundamental principles of Hindu law. Then the result that I envisage is not a very happy one. In fact every House in Hindu society will be converted into a hell in which there will be a quarrel between the brother and sister, between the husband and the wife and between the children and their father. The very fundamentals of Hindu society are sought to be demolished by this law. It is a question of vital concern and there must be a plebiscite on it or a referendum to find out whether public opinion in the country is in favour of this measure or against it.
I was submitting that there was no necessity for the codification of Hindu Law. The question then arises whether the uniformity that is sought to be achieved by the enactment of this law will be achieved if it is brought into force ? What is our experience of the statutory