Shalu Nigam

  The monetization of the `sacred’ bond is creating chaos: It happens only in India Shalu Nigam   From the Book  Dowry is a Serious Economic Violence: Rethinking Dowry Violence Law in India “Women are not for burning; women are human beings.” (A slogan raised in post-colonial India against the dreadful practice of the dowry in post-independent India.)   Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, in their famous thesis titled ‘ The Manifesto of the Communist Party’ in 1848, wrote,   “ The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation into a mere money relation”.   Likewise, in the patriarchal context of North India, the institution of marriage, though deemed `sacred’ is considerably reduced to a commercial relationship where money is prioritized over sentiments. The barbaric practice of dowry has been institutionalized and entrenched gradually, with religion playing a vital role in stubbornly determining the norms of sexual

  Marriage is tragically not construed as companionship by the Indian state and society “A wife should be an administrator in purpose, a slave in duty, Lakshmi in appearance, Earth in patience, Mother in love, Prostitute in bed”, wrote the Kerala judge while quoting a Sanskrit shloka to interpret the duties of a woman in a matrimonial relationship. (2018) Thus, as per the court, a wife should be capable of adopting multiple roles. She must be perfect in work and appearance, should be caring and loving, and yet must work as a slave. The role of a wife is painted with high expectations, whereas no such roles are prescribed for husbands by the court. As per this notion, a woman can attain salvation only if she obeys her husband because, for her, her husband is a lord and a master beyond which she cannot have a separate existence. The traditional conservative notions about the ‘good woman’ who is obedient, compliant, docile, and does not question the norms are still prevalent within and ou