Dowry is a serious economic violence

 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 sexuality[1], influencing the institution of marriage, shaping the choice of the partner, and setting the rules for cohabitation[2].

 

Though multiple patriarchies undoubtedly exist in India[3], in the unusual case of dowry violence as it is practiced in contemporary times, the Brahmanical patriarchy[4] clubbed with the neoliberal, fundamentalist, capitalist patriarchy[5] has slyly manipulated the obnoxious duality of sacredness and divinity along with the commercialization of conjugality to dreadfully suppress women and to advantage men. In fact, the despicable practice of linking payments with the sacred marital relationship has followed a treacherous path from a tradition of giving to coercive dowry demands that lead to the brutal torturing and slaying of women.

 

As per Hindu law, marriage is described as a sacrament[6] and not a contract between the parties. Some scholars have suggested that this `holy alliance is made in heaven’[7]. Though, in profound abstraction, marriage is considered a divine and heavenly institution, it is simultaneously commercialized, in reality. Thus, the intimacy in the relationship is ruined while the `sanctity and sacrament’ of the marriage are callously destroyed[8]. With the monetization of the so-called holy marital bond, the focus on the relationship is shifted from its sanctity to its profitability, from its sacramental nature to its exploitative and extortive character, and from companionship to violence, where the elements of love, affection, care, trust, or mutual respect are all weighed down by the value of goods and assets transferred by one party to another. And it happens only in India[9].

 

Materially, the monetization of each and every ritual associated with the marriage ceremony indicates how this relationship is commercialized, where the monetary value replaces the reciprocity and affinity within the relationship. For instance, the marriage ceremonies impetuously began with the elaborate ritual of the shagun, tikka or betrothal ceremony. It marks the beginning of giving. Rokna or earnest money, is typically paid by the girl’s parents to the groom with the intent to finalize the candidature so that they stop looking for potential matches[10]. And these peculiar rituals and ceremonies of unilateral `giving’ from the bride’s side to the groom’s side miserably extend years after the marriage is performed. Together, these celebrations of one-sided `giving’ depict how the transfer of money feeds into the workings of the larger obnoxious and regressive patriarchal arrangement while enhancing the status of the groom and his family and simultaneously undermining the worth of a woman.

 

Additionally, the patriarchal setup exploited the element of `sacredness’ to generate fear and emotionality among women to compel them to stay in an extremely abusive marriage, and at the same time, while emphasizing patrilocality along with patrilineality and allowing the unilateral flow of wealth from the bride to the groom’s family, it ensured that upper-caste, elite men enjoyed all the privileges and that the supremacy of males remained intact.

 

The patriarchal culture of dowry is propagated and justified while evoking Hindu mythology and ancient religious text[11]. Some historians have traced the origin of the dowry to the texts of Manusmriti, which outline the Dharmashastras or the laws of behaviour of social classes. Manu hypothesized the obnoxious linkage of the practice of dowry with upper-caste Brahmins[12]. Manusmriti recommended Brahma and its related forms of marriage, such as Prajapatiya, Daiva, and Arsha, which are linked with the practice of dowry for the Brahmins. Non-brahmins were forbidden from practicing dowry[13] though in practice, it is also found among the Kshatriya Rajput caste. Asura or other forms of marriage such as Gandharva or Rakshasa vivah, which uphold the practice of the bride price, were common among the lower castes and classes[14].  The laws of Manu condemn Asura forms of marriage as they are based on the concept of the sale of a girl[15]. Paradoxically, the same assumptions are not applied to realize the practice of dowry as a sale of the groom.

 

In the Brahmanical marriage, ludicrously, daughters are given or donated as `gifts’ as kanyadaan, and the dowry is regarded as vardakshina, or the supplementary gifts, and not the `consideration’ for marriage[16]. Srinivas[17] observed,

 

“A gift or daan has to be accompanied by a subsidiary cash gift (dakshina), and in kanyadaan, the bride is given as a gift to the groom. On this analogy, the dowry becomes the dakshina”. (p. 11)

As per this repulsive patriarchal assumption, the ritual of giving a virgin but simultaneously bejewelled and expensively clothed, daughter to a suitable man in marriage, for whom she will bear the future generation, is seen as the highest form of donation and a pious or sacred duty of the bride’s parents[18]. Manu has exalted this practice of unilateral giving, where a father fulfils his material and moral obligations towards his daughter by entrusting her to her husband, who will then control her life[19]. Giving a daughter along with the dowry is disgustingly considered an act of high spiritual merit, which compulsorily enhances the status and honour of the giver[20]. This biased practice exaggerates the concept of honour and prestige in families while devaluing the social position of women in families[21]. The repugnant patriarchal ritual of wrapping a bride as an object to be gifted or donated objectifies and commodifies women, reiterates the idea of unilateral transactions, and depicts how women are controlled by men, yet this socio-cultural practice is glorified and celebrated[22].

Typically, once a daughter is “given away” (as a daan or donation) to the groom’s family, she can no longer rely on her parents financially or emotionally because an object once donated cannot be taken back[23]. Her loyalties are supposed to be shifted from her natal home to her matrimonial home, and she is expected to devote herself fully to her marital family[24]. Divorce is highly discouraged in such a patriarchal arrangement. So, even in the dire circumstances of violence a woman experiences, she is expected to bear the torture and die in her matrimonial home. This is validated by common sayings such as `once a woman marries, only her dead body can come out of her matrimonial home’ or “a daughter is a paraya dhan’ (another man’s wealth)”. These absurd ideas fail to see a daughter as a human being and as a productive member of her natal family. These discriminatory stereotypical assumptions discount her visible and invisible contributions in terms of her help in managing household work, including cooking, cleaning, or even taking care of younger siblings at the age when she herself requires care and affection, and treat her as an economic liability and a burden in her natal family. Ironically, though the religion venerates the practice of `giving’, however, it is the giver of the daughter and dowry in this situation who is made to suffer and exploited by the `taker’. The giver is coerced to give more dowry, and transfer more wealth while using his daughter as a `hostage’. 

 

Though the ancient texts prohibit abusing a woman in her childbearing age and consider violence a heinous crime or a violation of universal order, still women are cruelly tortured and murdered for dowry and even otherwise[25]. Marriage is not seen as an equal partnership between a man and a woman in this male-dominated paradigm. Brides are seen only as a means of procreation and as a continuous source to fulfil material desires by the groom and his family. Moreover, the patriarchal ideology practiced by the upper caste entails traditional secluding and excluding women, besides regulating them[26].

 

In post-independent India, the conservative patriarchal ideology along with the Victorian mindset imbibed by the legal system continued to operate parallel to the constitutional provisions relating to equality between sexes, social justice, and liberty. Presently, society, as well as the law, socially and legally legitimize the Brahma form of marriage over all other forms. While impetuously deciding the critical issues relating to inheritance and division of property, the official system grimly approves and continues to blithely accept this detestable and degenerating Brahminical idea. The regressive conservative norms, therefore, are deeply institutionalized, culturally legitimized, and socially universalized through the restructuring of the traditions and rituals.

 

This indigenous patriarchy and upper-caste hegemony were reactivated and refuelled by the imperial rulers. Kolsky[27] demonstrated that while codifying the laws, Britishers created a culture of impunity and placed a heavy burden on women seeking a judicial remedy in the colonial courts. The compromised legal system proposed by Thomas Babington Macaulay accommodated the colonial hierarchy and was grounded on a regressive patriarchal understanding. An extensive emphasis on the regressive family ideology and the conspicuous absence of social security measures in post-colonial India further compound the deplorable situation where a woman experiencing brutal violence counter difficulties while walking out of a vicious marriage. The progressive view that a woman can be economically and emotionally independent is not easily accepted by patriarchal society.

---

[1] This is evident from the sociolegal discourse on same-sex marriage and the arguments being submitted by the state in the matter of Supriyo @ Supriyo Chakraborty v Union of India WPC 1011 of 2022, The matter is pending before the five judges Bench in the Supreme Court while the hearing is going on at the time when this book is being written https://www.scobserver.in/cases/plea-for-marriage-equality/ accessed on May 4, 2023

[2] Mahajan Priyanka T, Priya Pimple, PD Delnaz et.al. (2013) Indian religious concepts on sexuality and marriage. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(Suppl 2): S256-62.

[3] Sangari, K. (1995) Politics of Diversity: Religious Communities and Multiple Patriarchies, Economic and Political Weekly, 30(51), 3287-3310.

[4] Chakravarti Uma (1993) Conceptualizing Brahminical patriarchy in early India: Gender, caste, class and state, Economic and Political Weekly, 28(14) 579-585

[5] Mies Maria (1986) Patriarchy and accumulation on a world scale: Women in international division of labour, Zed Books, London

[6] Sivasankaran v Santhimeenal Supreme Court, Civil Appeal 4984-5 of 2021 decided on 13.09.2021, N Adithayan v Travancore Devaswom Board [2002] (8) SCC 106, and spate of other cases state that marriage is a sacrament as per the Hindu law

[7] Prakasa, Rao (1982) Marriage, The Family and Women in India. South Asia Books, Printox.

[8] Patnaik Raghunath (1989) Dowry as a social evil: An evaluation for rendering legal aid, Journal of the Indian Law Institute, 31(4) 570-576

[9] Most Indians have grown up listening to Bollywood songs and this is title of one of such popular song released in 1998 in the movie titled Pardesi Babu (Literally translating to foreign mister). The lyrics is a mix of patriarchy, and rampant misogyny with a gigantic dose of nationalism

[10] Sarkar Lotika, Usha Ramanathan and Madhu Mehra (1994) Gender Bias in Dowry Law, Karmika Delhi

[11] Teays W (1991) The Burning Bride: The Dowry Problem in India, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 7: 29-52

[12] Gandhi, N and N Shah (1992) The Issues at Stake: Theory & Practice in the Contemporary Women’s Movement in India. Kali, New Delhi

[13] Palriwal, R. (2003) Dowry in contemporary India: An overview, in Expanding Dimensions in Dowry, AIDWA, New Delhi p. 11- 34

[14] Sheel Ranjana (1997) Institutionalization and Expansion of Dowry System in colonial North India, Economic and Political Weekly, 32(28) 1709-1718

[15] Rao Jagmohan R (1973) Dowry System in India – A Sociolegal approach to the problem, Journal of Indian Law Institute, 15(4) 617-625

[16] Kumari Ranjana (1989) Brides are not for Burning: Dowry victims in India, Radiant Publishers, Delhi p. 17

[17] Srinivas MN (1983) Some Reflections on Dowry, JP Naik Memorial Lecture, Published by CWDS New Delhi

[18] Menski Werner (1995) Dowry: A Survey of the Issues and the Literature in Dowry Conference Souvenir, Harvard Law School, 

[19] As per this conservative notion, a woman is not considered as an independent entity; as a child she is dependent on her father, after marriage, her life is controlled by her husband and in old-age she is dependent on her son.

[20] Vatuk, S. (1973) Gifts and Affines in North India, Contributions to Indian Sociology (ns), 9: 155-96.

[21] Basu Monmayee (2001) Hindu Women and marriage law: From sacrament to contract, OUP, Delhi

[22] Barman Milan (2016) Dharamsutras and Modern Hindu Marriage, International Journal of Sanskrit Research, 2(6) 17-20 https://www.anantaajournal.com/archives/2016/vol2issue6/PartA/2-6-16.pdf

[23] Kakar S (1988) Feminine Identity in India, In Women in Indian Society Ed. by R Gadhially Sage, Delhi 44-68

[24] Jeyaseelan, V, S Kumar, L Jeyaseelan, V Shankar, et.al. (2014). Dowry demand and harassment: prevalence and risk factors in India. Journal of Biosocial Science, FirstView, doi 10.1017/S0021932014000571

[25] Menski Werner (1998) South Asians and Dowry Problem, Trentham Books, London

[26] Palriwala R (1989) Reaffirming the anti-dowry struggle, Economic and Political Weekly, 24(17) 942-944

[27] Kolsky Elizabeth (2010) The Rule of Colonial Indifference: Rape on Trial in Early Colonial India, 1805–57, The Journal of Asian Studies, 69(4) 1093–117

 प्रेम एक क्रांति है, प्रेम मुक्ति है

अधिवक्ता डॉ. शालू निगम

@countercurrents.org 2 सितंबर 2023

प्रेम की व्याख्या दार्शनिकों द्वारा विभिन्न रूपों में की गई है

प्रेम को कवियों द्वारा रूमानी रूप दिया गया है, जिनकी अपनी-अपनी कथा है

फिल्मों में प्यार को सीमित आयामों में चित्रित किया जाता है

प्रेम को टेलीविजन ने सीमित विवरण में सीमित कर दिया है

लालची बाजार ताकतों द्वारा अपने निहित स्वार्थ के लिए जानकारी में हेराफेरी और तोड़-मरोड़ कर पेश करने के लिए प्रेम का अपहरण कर लिया गया है

सत्ता के भूखे राजनेताओं द्वारा प्रेम को सतही सम्मान, संकीर्ण राष्ट्रवाद और देशभक्ति के बंडलों तक सीमित कर दिया गया है

प्रेम जाति, क्षेत्र और धर्म की संकीर्ण अवधारणा और पितृसत्तात्मक धारणाओं से विभाजित है

लेकिन इस सारी उथल-पुथल के बीच, जिस तरह से मैंने समझा, प्यार एक विद्रोह है,

प्रेम एक क्रांति है; प्रेम मुक्ति है

प्रेम विद्रोह है, जो व्यक्तिवादी अभिव्यक्ति या भावनाओं तक सीमित नहीं है।

प्रेम को लाभ-हानि के हिसाब-किताब तक सीमित नहीं रखा जा सकता

प्रेम विवेक को जागृत करता है और व्यक्ति को अहंकारी लेन-देन से परे सोचने में सक्षम बनाता है।

प्रेम कोई सर्वोच्चता, पूर्वाग्रह, अंधविश्वास या पूर्वधारणा नहीं है

लेकिन प्रेम एक शक्तिशाली अभिव्यक्ति है जो ऐसे सभी भ्रमों को चुनौती देती है

प्रेम एक अभिव्यक्ति है जो क्षेत्र, जाति, वर्ग या धर्म की सीमाओं से परे है

प्रेम का मतलब मंदिरों में परमात्मा की तलाश करना नहीं है; यह प्रकृति और उसकी सभी रचनाओं की प्रशंसा करने के बारे में है

प्रेम प्रकृति के साथ सामंजस्य है, और विलुप्त होने के कगार पर मौजूद सभी प्राकृतिक प्रजातियों का संरक्षण है

प्रेम जीवन की तर्कसंगतता, बुद्धिमत्ता और उत्सव है।

प्रेम न्याय की तलाश है, प्रेम स्वतंत्रता और आत्मनिर्णय के बारे में है

सामान्य समय में,

प्यार एक माँ की धैर्य है जो अपनी बेटी को सपने देखना और सदियों पुरानी परंपराओं को तोड़ना सिखाती है

प्रेम एक पिता का अपनी बेटी को उसकी आकांक्षाओं को पूरा करने में समर्थन देने का कार्य है।

प्रेम एक प्रेमी का विद्रोह है जो सभी रूढ़िवादी परंपराओं को तोड़ना  है

प्रेम सभी रूढ़िवादी पारंपरिक भ्रमों को तोड़ने के बारे में है

प्रेम नागरिक के विद्रोह में है, अपने अधिकारों और उचित समाधानों की मांग करना  है

प्रेम उस कार्यकर्ता की दहाड़ है जो शोषण के विरुद्ध आंदोलन करना है

प्रेम सीमित परंपराओं की संकीर्ण दीवारों को तोड़ना  है

प्रेम गरीबी, भुखमरी, ज्यादती और असंयम को खत्म करने की मांग करना   है।

अँधेरे समय में,

प्रेम सभी अन्यायपूर्ण संस्थाओं को मोड़ना  रहा है, ढालना  और बदलना है

प्रेम सभी प्रकार के भेदभाव को चुनौती देना  है

दमन के समय में, प्रेम क्रांति की शिक्षाशास्त्र है

प्रेम सत्ता में बैठे लोगों के झूठ को उजागर कर रहा है; यह अन्याय और उत्पीड़न के खिलाफ मजबूती से खड़े होना  है

प्रेम क्रूरता, हिंसा और दमन के इतिहास का दस्तावेजीकरण करना  है

प्रेम सभी प्रकार की पराधीनता के विरुद्ध बोलना  है

नफरत के दौर में,

प्रेम बहादुरी है और सच को दृढ़ विश्वास के साथ कहने का साहस है

प्रेम अत्याचार और वर्चस्व की वास्तविकताओं के विरुद्ध गवाही देना  है

प्रेम का अर्थ है न्याय की तलाश करना, ग़लतियों को सही करना और संविधान की भावना को पुनः प्राप्त करना

सभी अराजक और बेतुकी स्थितियों के बीच प्यार आशा की एक चमक है।

निरंकुशता और प्रभुत्व के समय में प्रेम धैर्य और लचीलापन है

प्रेम स्त्री-द्वेष, लिंगवाद, घृणा और घृणा का प्रतिकार करना है

प्रेम सभी भयानक घृणा और विभाजन के विरुद्ध खड़ा होना है

संक्षेप में।

प्रेम एकजुटता है, सामूहिकता है, मानवीय मूल्यों, दया और करुणा पर आधारित एक वैकल्पिक दुनिया की कल्पना करना है।

प्रेम निराशा और अवसाद के समय में कविताएँ और कहानियाँ लिखना है

प्रेम प्रतिरोध और प्रतिस्पर्धा के गीत गाना  है

प्रेम शांति, न्याय, जुनून और सहयोग का उत्सव है

प्रेम भावी पीढ़ियों के लिए एक बेहतर दुनिया का निर्माण करना है

प्रेम एक ऐसी दुनिया की कल्पना करना है जो विश्वासघात, क्रूरता और दमन से मुक्त हो

प्यार एक ऐसी दुनिया का सपना देखना है जहां मानवता के खिलाफ अपराध के लिए कोई जगह नहीं है, कोई सतही अलगाव नहीं है

प्रेम एक क्रांति है; प्रेम मुक्ति है

लेखक एक कार्यकर्ता, वकील और शोधकर्ता हैं जो लिंग, मानवाधिकार, कानून और शासन के मुद्दों पर काम कर रहे हैं। उनकी नवीनतम पुस्तकें हैं दहेज एक गंभीर आर्थिक हिंसा है; भारत में दहेज कानून पर पुनर्विचार 2023; भारत में घरेलू हिंसा कानून: मिथक और स्त्री द्वेष, 2021 रूटलेज; महिला और घरेलू हिंसा भारत: न्याय की तलाश, रूटलेज 2019; संस्थापक माताएँ: भारतीय संविधान की 15 महिला वास्तुकार, 2016, सह-लेखक)। वह एक टेडएक्स वक्ता हैं।

https://countercurrents.org/2023/09/love-is-a-revolution-love-is-लिबरेशन/

Love is a Revolution, Love is Liberation

                                             Love is a Revolution, Love is Liberation

02.09.23

Love is interpreted by philosophers with different variations

Love is romanticized by the poets, who have their own narration

Love is painted in the movies in restricted dimensions

Love is confined by the television in a limited description

Love is hijacked by the greedy market forces for their vested interest to manipulate and twist information

Love is reduced to bundles of superficial honour, narrow nationalism, and patriotism by power-hungry politicians

Love is divided by the narrow concept of caste, territory, and religion and by paternalist notions

But amidst all this chaos, the way I understood, love is a rebellion,

Love is a revolution; Love is liberation

 

Love is the mutiny, not confined by the individualist expression or emotions

Love could not be restricted to profit or loss calculations

Love awakens the conscience and enables one to think beyond egoistic transactions

Love is not supremacy, prejudices, superstitions, or preconceptions

but love is a powerful expression that challenges all such delusions

Love is an expression that transcends the boundaries of territories, caste, class, or religion

Love is not about seeking the divine in temples; it is about admiring nature and all its creations

Love is harmony with nature, and preserving all natural species on the verge of extinction

Love is rationality, wisdom and life’s celebration. 

Love is a quest for justice, Love is about freedom and self-determination

 

In normal times,

Love is the grit of a mother teaching her daughter to dream and break age-old traditions

Love is the act of a father supporting his daughter to fulfill her aspirations

Love is the revolt of a lover who breaks all conservative traditions

Love is about shattering all stereotypical conventional illusions

Love is in the revolt of the citizen, demanding her entitlements and just solutions

Love is the roar of a worker who agitates against exploitation

Love is shattering the narrow walls of limiting traditions

Love is a brave act of demanding the elimination of poverty, starvation, excesses, and immoderation 

 

In the dark times,

Love is bending, molding, and transforming all unjust institutions

Love is challenging all forms of discrimination

In the times of repression, love is a pedagogy of revolution 

Love is exposing the lies of those in power; it is an act of standing resilient against injustice and oppression

Love is an act of documenting the history of brutalities, violence and suppression

Love is speaking against all forms of subjugation

 

In times of hatred,

Love is bravery and courage to tell the truth with conviction   

Love is testifying against the realities of tyrannies and domination

Love is seeking justice, righting wrongs, and reclaiming the spirit of the Constitution

Love is a sparkle of hope amidst all chaotic and absurd situations

Love is grit and resilience in times of autocracy and dominion

Love is countering misogyny, sexism, hate and detestation

Love is standing against all the gruesome hatred and division

 

In short.

Love is solidarity, a collective, imagining an alternative world founded on humane values, kindness and compassion.

Love is writing poems and stories in times of despair and depression

Love is singing songs of resistance and contestation

Love is a celebration of peace, justice, passion and collaboration

Love is creating a better world for future generations

Love is imagining a world free of treachery, cruelty and suppression

Love is dreaming of a world where crime against humanity has no place, there are no superficial separations

Love is a revolution; Love is liberation

 

The author is an activist, lawyer and a researcher working on gender, human rights, law and governance issues. Her latest books are Dowry is a Serious Economic Violence; Rethinking Dowry Law in India 2023; Domestic Violence Law in India: Myth and Misogyny, 2021 Routledge; Women and Domestic Violence India: A Quest for Justice, Routledge 2019; The Founding Mothers: 15 Women Architect of the Indian Constitution, 2016, co-author). She is a Tedx speaker.

 

https://countercurrents.org/2023/09/love-is-a-revolution-love-is-liberation/ 

 Fighting for Freedom Every Day

Shalu Nigam

15 August 2023

Politically, India gained independence on 15th August 1947, however, for those on the margins, freedom is not a one-time event, They are struggling hard and fighting for every inch of space and for freedom on a daily basis at every possible space - public or private. 

Freedom implies a different sense to different people. For the elite and the privileged, freedom may be a one-day celebration. However, for a woman or a child in a violent relationship, a poor trapped in the vicious circle of poverty, a bonded laborer enslaved by the chains of bondage, or a young girl stuck in a trafficking channel, freedom may be desperately seeking liberation every moment. And there are a million men, women, and children who are entrapped in a similar situation. 

The freedom struggle in India has seen a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice by millions. However, several scholars have noted that once India attained independence, it is the powerful and elite Indians who replaced their colonial masters. The situation of the poor and marginalized, therefore, remained the same. 

Those on the margins, therefore, are still struggling every moment of their lives to attain freedom or Azadi - freedom from starvation, freedom from poverty, freedom from illiteracy and ignorance, freedom to study, freedom from patriarchy, freedom from everyday violence and fear of violence, freedom from casteism, freedom from fascism, freedom from majoritarianism, freedom from capitalism, freedom to dream and aspire, freedom to enjoy life. 

 The Founding Mothers: 15 Women Architects of the Indian Constitution

2016

The current question of women’s autonomy and rights in India is rooted in the nineteenth century when the quest for independence of the country from British rule was going on and the issues of women’s rights gained a central position in debates on social reforms. Although, at that point in time, the notion of gender justice or gender equality had not gained ground, yet, the social reformers were of the view that something needs to be done about improving the situation of women. Women then were construed as members of the community rather than individuals on their own and therefore, the notion of women’s entitlements was interpreted within the context of the religious, personal, and customary law sphere which never treated women as independent entities. The official colonial and post-colonial discourses in pre-independent India were initiated by male reformers who articulated their thoughts on the abolition of Sati or on the age of consent. The amendments of personal laws were not women-friendly or provided for equality of sexes, rather these were based on orthodox opinions as evident from debates surrounding the Age of Consent Bill, Indian Divorce Act, Indian Succession Act of 1865, Hindu women’s Right to Property Act 1937 or the Hindu women right to Divorce Bill, 1939. Even during the debates on fundamental rights in the Constituent Assembly, men argued that ‘sex’ should not be mentioned as a ground of discrimination. But it was the women members who insisted that where fundamental rights were concerned the term man could not stand in for both male and female. However, in spite of the fact that equality on the basis of sex was mentioned in the Constitution, it could not contextualize women as independent beings and visualize them as members of the community.

The women, though few, raised women’s concerns and voiced women’s questions in the debates in pre-independent India within the given social context; and therefore the Constitution of India when finalized does reflect all of these concerns. These Constituent Assembly debates shaped the process of state formation and also guided the attitude toward women’s questions. This book looks at those women who raised their voices, pushed the concerns for inclusion, and highlighted the women’s concerns when the Constitution was being made. These and many other women played a significant role in the making of the Constitution. Yet, their works remain in the shadow, their faces invisible, their voices hidden and their courage unsung. They were the crucial architects of the Indian Republic who made substantial leaps in the history of India. Here we have made an attempt to look at their life, their views, their thoughts and the issues that they raised, which played a significant role in shaping the document called Constitution. We, therefore, call them the founding Mothers of the Constitution who brought in specific women-related concerns in contrast to the Fathers of the Constitution who sometimes favoured women’s questions, sometimes rejected women’s notions or sometimes overlooked women’s concerns. These women chose an unconventional path and voiced their thoughts in an arena dominated by men, and made their mark while writing the destiny of the Indian Republic.

Law and Our Daily Lives

 “The law is a site where marginalization is challenged and resisted by those who are subjugated. On the one hand, the law reinforces the patriarchal discourse, yet on the other hand, it has the authority to set out the social order. Women and  marginalized groups have used the law to challenge the hierarchy and dominant notions.”  

Shalu Nigam 

In an online session on Law and Our Daily Lives @ 

LPPYF- Law and Public Policy Youth Fellowship, a two-month online immersive legal awareness & action research certificate training course and internship program, on 14th June 2023. 

Session Report
Priyanka Negi

LPPYF Law and Public Policy Youth Fellowship is an Online National Summer School Program, a Two- Month Online Immersive Legal Awareness & Action Research Certificate Training Course and Internship Program, from June-August 2023 by IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute. An informative and interactive panel discussion on “International Human Rights” was held on the 14th of June 2023 by Adv Dr Shalu Nigam, Visiting Senior Fellow IMPRI, Advocate, Author, and Researcher, Gender and Human Rights.

IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi hosted the second session of LPPYF- Law and Public Policy Youth Fellowship, a two-month online immersive legal awareness & action research certificate training course and internship program, on 14th June 2023. Swetha Shankar, researcher at IMPRI, kicked off the session by welcoming the attendees & introducing the panelists. 

The session was chaired by Prof Vibhuti Patel, Visiting Distinguished Professor, IMPRI. Prof Vibhuti Patel began this session with a warm expression of gratitude towards team IMPRI. She then proceeded with a recap of the takeaways from session 1 of the LPPYF program. She informed that session 2 is an important discussion on “International human rights” by Adv Dr. Shalu Nigam, Visiting Senior Fellow IMPRI; Advocate, Author, and Researcher, Gender and Human Rights & Adv Dr. Vahida Nainar, Independent Researcher, Gender & Human Rights Consultant.

Multiple Legal Perspectives

Dr Shalu Nigam reminisced about her first experience as a beginner legal aid & shared an instance that alerted her about the term ‘court’ not being a familiar term on the streets. Instead, she encountered a new term ‘kachahari’ that the masses related to. She drew the conclusion that law is perceived differently among the masses & the court. She gave a brief introduction to the various definitions of law given by theorists, scholars & philosophers.

Dr Shalu Nigam focused on the making & enforcement of the law as her chosen legal perspective. In regards to making & enforcing of law, she shared the following two case studies.

The Struggle of Bhanwari Devi

Bhanwari Devi, a Rajasthan native was married to her husband when she was a 5- or 6-year-old child. Bhanwari Devi’s brave rebellion against child marriage was not well received by the community resulting in her husband being beaten up & Bhanwari being gang-raped by the upper caste men. The authorities right from lodging the FIR to being tested continued to show indifference in the matter. As an employee of the Women’s development project (WDP), the state government her employer who had refused to help her claiming that the assault occurred in the fields.

On November 15, 1995, the district & sessions court dismissed the case & acquitted the 5 men accused. The statements such as village head & elderly couldn’t rape and that upper caste men cannot rape lower caste women because of purity reasons, caused an uproar in the Women’s movement. A PIL was filed in the supreme court. The supreme court in Vishakha versus the State of Rajasthan pronounced a decision that resulted in the formation of Vishakha Guidelines.

This August 1997, judgment gave the basic definition of sexual harassment in the workplace & provided guidelines to deal with it. This was followed by the making of the Sexual harassment of Women at the workplace (prevention, prohibition & Redressal) act, 2013. Dr. Shalu Nigam then briefly discussed the problems with the enforcement of this law. 

Right to food

Dr. Shalu Nigam began this segment by laying out the statistics that very well express the food insecurity that our nation faces. In the Global Hunger Index India is ranked 107 amongst 121 countries. She mentioned how gender roles prevent women in families from consuming nutrient-rich food & that between farm & plate a lot of food is wasted.

She then detailed the case of PUCL versus the Union of India. The petition brought to attention the lack of transparency in the distribution system leading to starvation despite the Food Corporation of India (FCI) Godowns being full. The court attested the Right to food as an important constituent to maintain Article 21 of the Constitution of India which ensures the fundamental & human right to “life with human dignity”.

This was followed by a discussion on the steps taken towards the implementation of the interim orders passed by the court which on June 4, 2009, led to the formation of the National Food Security Act which assured food security to every individual. Further, the gaps & challenges with this act were discussed. 

In the learnings segment, Dr. Shalu Nigam talked about the law, morality, culture & society being intertwined in complex ways. She brought forth the insights from both the cases which depicted challenges faced by the marginal communities seeking justice. She maintained the understanding that the actual realization of rights by powerless people was flawed & needed to be continuously reframed, monitored & enforced. 

The end of Dr. Shalu Nigam’s session included a mindful questionnaire that aptly supplemented the teachings taken up during the session. The questions selected evoked curiosity amongst the attendees to delve into the subject matter more than what had been taught to broaden the horizons of their learning. The questionnaire was followed by Q & A session open for all the attendees.

This session by Dr. Shalu Nigam saw its end on a very important note as was well presented on screen. It read as follows- “The law is a site where marginalization is challenged and resisted by those who are subjugated. On the other hand, the law reinforces the patriarchal discourse, yet on the other hand, it has the authority to set out the social order. Women & marginalized groups have used the law to challenge the hierarchy & dominant notions.”  

Priyanka is a research intern at IMPRI.

https://impriinsights.in/international-human-rights-impri-impact-and-policy-research-institute/?fbclid=IwAR3sR2JIT3-htY79O_9UD6smvMWRSH-0M2dtbZBlylTg4j_sdAWcUy-typw