DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 593
The Honourable Shri K. Santhanam : I am afraid I shall not be able to give way to my Hon. friend from Assam.
Sjt. Rohini Kumar Chaudhari : All right, I shall keep quiet. If you want to suffer from the tyranny of women, you suffer.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Order, order.
The Honourable Shri K. Santhanam : Sir, much has been said about the so-called sacred institution of joint family. In the mediaeval and ancient times, this so-called joint family might have served a very useful purpose. It is not my business to deny that. But, today, joint family exists only in controversy. I know the peasants ; I have been in the rural areas probably much longer than many of you. I have worked for ten years continuously in the rural areas. I know, Sir, the first thing, when a peasant’s son marries, the peasant does is, to set up a new house, give the son his share in the ancestral land, one acre or half an acre or one-quarter of an acre, and establishes the son as a separate family. Unless this is done, the peasant knows that his family will be disintegrated. In the case of certain very rich people, the so-called joint family may continue with a double system of account keeping for certain purposes, to cheat the Income-tax and for other purposes. Ordinarily, even today, in the middle class families, what happens ? One son lives in the village; another son is in Delhi in service in the Government of India; another son is in Madras in some other service; another son does business. What is the meaning of maintaining a joint family and ancestral property ? It is better that they are allowed to partition. Then, if they want voluntarily to come back and live together, let them become a co-operative society, let them become any kind of legal personality suited to modern conditions. To continue the joint family owing to ancestral worship, without regard to the existing circumstances, I think it is sheer coservatism run mad.
Shri Brajeshwar Prasad (Bihar : General) : A Daniel come to judgement.
The Honourable Shri K. Santhanam : My hon. friend from Bihar is a supreme example of Daniel as he has proved in the constitution making, and I am sure he will prove himself so here.
Shri Brajeshwar Prasad : You are also.
The Honourable Shri K. Santhanam : I am not giving way.
Mr. Deputy Speaker : Let there be no talk across the table. I am exceedingly sorry ; I have been a little indulgent. I find an acrimonious controversy is carried on. So long as there is good humour there is