834 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
Shri Satish Chandra (Uttar Pradesh) : This has been read several times.
Mr. Chairman: Let the hon. Member proceed. To keep up the thread of the argument, he must be allowed to read.
Shri Tyagi: This thing about illegitimate child was not read.
Shri Naziruddin Ahmad: The child of a Hindu, particularly, if he be illegitimate, may not himself remain a Hindu. This sub-clause proceeds on the supposition that a child of a Hindu remains a Hindu. But, it is quite possible for him to change his religion. He may discard all religions ; he may be an atheist. He may become a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim, and then again be re-converted to Hinduism. The supposition that an illegitimate child of a Hindu is a Hindu presupposes that he does not change. As a matter of fact, he can change. If he changes his religion, certainly, he cannot be a Hindu, and cannot inherit his father’s property and so forth. An illegitimate child of a Hindu father will inherit his fathers properties ; but if he changes his religion, he ceases to be a Hindu and therefore, he ceases to be the heir.
Shri Tyagi: A father can never have an illegitimate child; a mother only can have.
Shri Naziruddin Ahmad : That is a legal question. If a father cannot have an illegitimate child, this clause should have been deleted.
Shri Tyagi: The child is……….. ( Interruption ).
Mr. Chairman : Order, order; let him proceed.
Shri Naziruddin Ahmad : My amendment says, “ if he has attained the age of eighteen years, is himself a Hindu………..” That is to say, after attaining the age of eighteen years, when he attains the age of discretion and is permitted by law to act in a legal manner, if he remains a Hindu, then, of course, he is a Hindu. He is a child of his father entitled to inherit and enjoy all the benefits of the Hindu Law. This amendment tries to remove a lacuna which exists in the drafting. An illegitimate child, if he attains the age of eighteen years and if he does not change his religion, then, of course, he could come in. That is what I have sought to clarify here.
Let us come to another amendment; it is of a drafting nature. It reads as follows:
In part (c)(i) of sub-clause (1) of clause 2, for “whose parents are Hindus” substitute “whose parents are or have been Hindus”.