944 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
are sought to be given to Hindu women by this Code. Christian and Muslim women are now entitled in some measure to the right of inheritance. In the case of Muslim women, divorce is also obtainable to them.
An Hon. Member : No.
Shri Tyagi : It is not a right but a liability.
Shri Raj Bahadur : You may call it a liability but I would request you to apply your mind to the provisions of the Bill. There are many instances where a Hindu has deserted his wife for more than five years. Hindus have changed their religion and there are instances where Hindus keep other women while their first spouse is living. In such cases of immorality will you not come out with your galantry or chivalry and allow divorce to such miserable Hindu sisters ? The right has been given to a Hindu male to marry four or five times. If the sanctity of marriage is there it should be for both man and woman. If a woman is expected to be pure, chaste and faithful to the husband, is it not for the man also to bind himself by the same obligation ? Why should it be one-sided. If we say that man is God’s favourite creature, it will not help our society or country in any way.
Let us look at it from another angle. In the present state of the world whenever there is a threat to the frontiers of a country and there is a war, it is not fought on the old lines. It is a total war. In the last great war while British men went to the trenches and the firing line, British women folk applied themselves to the various tasks of national responsibility. For example, they ran railways, worked on the buses and in ammunition factories. Unfortunately it is a fact that we regard woman as a liability, as something which is below ourselves. The common man’s conception of a woman is that she is like the shoes on our feet. If they are torn we can throw them away and take a new pair.
An Hon. Member : Is that the conception in Rajasthan ?
Shri Raj Bahadur : That is so not only in Rajasthan but in most of our rural areas. It is so in high families also. It is time that we realise the bitter truth. It is time that we recognise it if we want to shoulder the responsibilities that have devolved upon us as a result of our independence. If we want to make our home and this country Bharat Varsh secure we should have to see that our women folk are brought on a par with man. It is not Westernism or Modernism but the exigencies of the moment that require it. You cannot face all the threats to your security as a nation unless you radically change our