DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 653
Shri L. Krishnaswami Bharathi : Yes, they do. Complaints are inherent in the situation.
Dr. P. K. Sen : If their complaint could be heard, then of course it will be a different matter, but if they were people in the family, then there would be no opportunity whatsoever, to make a complaint. The only way in which they can possibly complain is now laid down namely, by expression of intention to separate. Now, what is the actual position ? Howsoever strong the family integrity may be, any individual member can come forward and say, I intend to separate, and that expression of intention will instantaneously effect separation in the eye of the law. Where is the integrity of the family then ? What then has the mitakshara family to do ? According to judicial decisions now, it has come down to this that the slightest intention to effect separation and the expression of that intention will effect that separation. In that case I do submit that it is too late in the day to say that the joint family is a huge institution which remains intact. It is tumbling down and there can be no doubt whatsoever that with the effort of man it cannot possibly be protected any longer. People want individual liberty now. Everybody who earns wants to earn and also go his own way. He does not want to be fettered by other members of the family. It is individual freedom which is now their aim and object. This cry has been raised from the earliest times. “The individual withers and the State is more and more.” That is a complaint which has been heard for some time past. Today also we feel that in our society the rule of the majority, the rule of society, is predominant, but nobody wants this predominance any longer. The individual now wants to go off at a tangent. He says, I do not want to be governed by the family. I want to earn my freedom and I want to go my own way. I appeal to every individual Member of this House to ask himself if that is not the spirit of the modern times, and if that is the spirit, then where are we ? Where is the advantage in trying to bolster up an edifice that could not possibly exist any more. Therefore, this great difference which is being drawn between Mitakshara and Dayabhaga is practically gone. It may be that when we sit round a table in perfect amity and goodwill, in perfect understanding of each other, we may be able to iron out all these differences and we may be able to arrive at a very satisfactory solution without hurting the instincts of any particular section, and I do hope that that will be so. I do not want to go into details, but I just want to point out that this is the line upon which our discussions may proceed in future.