CHAPTER- III
CONTRIBUTION OF REFORMERS AND REFORM
MOVEMENTS UNDER THE BRITISH RULE
Neither bride–price nor dowry
Marriage is not a transaction
- Manushi, Vol.3 No.5, 1983, p.8
The Indian social reformers felt that the miserable economic position of
women was due to the denial of property right to women. In order to improve the
subordinate status of women and to remove the social evils in the society they
thought of getting property right to women.
The word ‘Movement’ signifies “the course or process of change” and it
cannot be denied that India is changing and changing rapidly.
She has been
awakened from her age long sleep and her women no less than her men have been
roused from their slumbers almost, as it were, by the touch of a magic wand rod.1
The origins of the earlier movements may be traced to the work of early social and
religious reformers, both men and women. The selfless service of the reformers and
the contribution of the Christian Missionaries to the liberation of women were
monumental in nature.
The Tamil literary works and journals played a vital role in guiding the
reformers to active participation. The educated Hindus might possibly have effected
improvements and amended the law so as to meet modern requirements. But a
foreign regime was naturally hesitant when an indigenous ruler could have modified
the law with boldness and public acceptance.
1. Stri-Dharma, Feb.1933, p.177
89
Tirukkural, the ‘Bible of Tamils’ mentions about the importance that wealth
may acquire, but it will disappear after some times, but the usefulness and value of
education will remain forever. It states that the fame of the wealthiest person cannot
remain if he fails to safeguard his wealth. 2 But he never talks about granting
property right to women. It states about everything existing in the world. The
qualities of women, responsibilities of king, wife and husband.
It was regarded a stroke of liberal statesmanship when the British Parliament,
by the Act of Settlement of 1781, permitted the application of their own personal
laws to the Hindus and the Muslims in all matters, religion, marriage, succession,
inheritance, maintenance and family relations etc.
But it is well known that
women’s rights under the personal laws are inferior to those of men.
The Industrial Revolution brought a complex movement and it had a
complex effect upon women’s position. Consequently, the idea of women working
outside of her home, in an industry became prevalent. The explanation of women’s
readiness to go was largely historical. The post-war economic independence of
women was not only more novel in Germany than it was in England.
The woman’s movement in India regarded broadly and comprehensively, the
efforts initiated by individual pioneers and organizations towards social reforms and
advancement of the position of women. The first purely feminist organization to
arise in India was Women’s India Association (WIA). It was first established in the
Madras Presidency by Dorothy Jinarajadasa and Margaret Cousins, under the
Presidentship of Annie Besant at Adayar on 8th May 1917.3
All India Women’s
Conference (AIWC) was established in 1927. She stated, “Indian greatness will not
return until Indian womanhood obtains a larger, freer, fuller life, for largely in the
hands of Indian women must be the redemption of India”. 4 Though started as an
2. Tirukkural, Couplet No.247-252
3. Women’s India Association, Golden Jubilee Celebration, 1917-1976, p.1
4. Jana Matson Everett, Women and Social Change in India, 1979, p.82.
90
educational institution, the movement for the Reform Bill proved that a most
necessary part of work for the advancement of women was propaganda in support of
woman’s suffrage. The main motive of this organization was upliftment of women
and achievement of social equality. Women were glad since the association gave
them the opportunity of meeting together in their free afternoon hours for mutual
help. The women in Madras Presidency organized the young people, and the
association, which was named as, Vaanar Sena.5 This organization sowed the seeds
of patriotism in the minds of girls and boys.
Reformers were against Hindu customs since girls were not permitted to
acquire wealth by getting educated or by working. The missionaries utilized the
Married Women’s Property Act, 1874, to weaken the Joint Family System to get
relief to a good number of girls.6 After conversion, the girls were permitted to work
either in schools or in missions or in hospitals and they earned money.
The
influence of the elders on the Christian girls began to decline and the girls began to
acquire individuality against the joint family system and started saving money,
which they kept for themselves separately, as a personal possession. The movement
for the improvement of the legal status of women was an integral part of the
movement for the emancipation of women and it was inspired by the egalitarian
idea.
The marriage laws, the property laws and the personal laws were some of the
legal methods by which woman can be made subordinate to man.
The social
reformers and in the later phases women themselves, realized the obstacles in the
way of status also. The process of winning legal rights for women was very slow
since people and the government did not exhibit much earnestness and enthusiasm
for it.7
5. Tara Ali Baig, Women of India, p.22
6. Desopakari, May 1871, p.21
7. Ramnika Jalali, Status of Women, p.158
91
Efforts of Social Reformers
The nineteenth century was a period in which the problems of women became
the major concerns of the social reformers. A galaxy of social reformers and a few
reform-minded elites emerged in the 19th century to weed out societal obstacles that
stood in the way of the emancipation of women and their progress. The leaders of
the social reform movement who raised women’s issues were mostly men. Later on
the movement was taken over by women.
During that period in Tamilnadu
reformers like St.Ramalinga Adigal, Mayuram Vedanayagam Pillay, G.Subramania
Iyer, Subramania Bharathi, V.S.Srinivasa Sastri, Thiru.V.Kalyana Sundaranar,
Bharathidasan, E.V.R. Periyar, and others spoke and wrote about women’s rights.
St.Ramalinga Adigal’s (1823-1874) suddha sanmarga movement was a
spiritual one.
He emphasized the need for creating a casteless society and he
condemned religious fanaticism and the caste system.
St.Ramalinga exhorted that
economic equality, but did not mention about the property right of women. He
vehemently opposed “the desires of land, lass and lucre”.8
As early as 1869, Mayuram Vedanayagam Pillai (1826-1889) in his book on
‘pennkalvi’ (women’s education) enumerated the advantages of educating women.
He considered female education as essential as food.9 He was the first and foremost
to advocate, granting a part of husband’s property to his wife, and he also
emphasized right to property for married women. 10 The life of a widow became
pathetic, due to not only social discrimination but also because of economic
dependency on others.
He condemned child marriage, widowhood and dowry
system. The child marriage was described as ‘puppet marriage and peppermint
marriage.’
8. Tiruarutpa, Second Canto, (971)
9. Kuzhathur Vedanayagam Pillai, pennkalvi, penn manam, penn mathimalai, (Tamil) pp.27-28
10.Sarala Rajagopalan, vedanayagar pottriya pennmai (Tamil) pp.149-151
92
One of the members of the rationalist wing, G.Subramania Iyer (1855-1916)
founded the Madras Hindu Widows Remarriage Association. 11 He also supported
Age of Consent bill, 1891. He also spoke for the vertical mobility of women on the
scale of progress. He said as,
“It is self-love; narrow sympathy and a low standard of conduct that
constitute the cause of the subordination of women to men…..” 12
He pleaded that female education should be as high as scientific and as
invigorating as the education of men. His question was, “.....how do you expect
ignorant mothers to know their duties to their children, realize their responsibilities
not only for the good breeding of their children, but also through their children for
the well being of the country at large and to perform these duties satisfactorily?”. He
not only supported widow remarriage but himself set an example by conducting
marriage of his own widowed daughter, on 31st December 1889, a Tuesday evening
5 p.m. considered to be inauspicious by the orthodox Hindus, 13 with more
opposition than any other. Till the last G.Subramania Iyer alone tenaciously clung
to his principles. 14 Though, he was a social activist, he remained silent about the
property right of women, which gives franchise right to women.
Subramania Bharathi (1882-1921), vehemently opposed all the evils against
women including forced marriage, and gender inequality. He emphasized the need
and importance of education for women. Bharathi was anxious that responsible
persons throughout the country should seriously consider the question of woman’s
status and do something immediately to make Indian womanhood free, enlightened
11. The Indian Social Reformer, dated 25 November 1893.
12. P.N.Premalatha, Nationalism and Women’s Movement in South India, 1917-47, p.31
13. Yajnesvara Cintamani, (ed.) Indian Social Reform, Vol.II, pp.356-57
14. C.Paramarthalingam, Social Reform Movement in Tamilnadu, p.140
93
and really human that was to say ‘divine’.15 But he remained silent regarding the
property right of women.
V.S.Srinivasa Sastri (1869-1946) though a moderate in politics was an ardent
social reformer of Tamilnadu. He advocated post-puberty marriage of girls and
wrote books on the status and rights of Indian women. But he ignored the property
rights of women.16
Thiru.V.Kalyana Sundaranar (1883-1953), a feminist known for his dedication
to women’s cause, reforms and welfare. He was affectionately called as, ‘Tamizh
Tendral.’ He was a labour leader and a freedom fighter. He believed that denial of
rights to women was the main cause for the backwardness of India. He compared
the status of women with the proletariats. Just like the proletariats were exploited by
the capitalists, women were exploited by men.
Thiru.Vi.Ka. vehemently opposed
the giving and taking of dowry, and he disliked the mad desire of women for jewels.
But, he too was silent on the matter of property right of women.
Dedicated reformer Bharathidasan (1891-1964), advocated for women’s rights
and as the staunch disciple of Bharati, strongly attacked the traditional customs and
practices which made women inferior. Hindu religion emphasized that the son must
do the final rites of the father hence, they welcomed the birth of a son, and for him
the property of his father was given. He condemned Hinduism, because it was the
main cause for the denial of rights of women.17 He suggested that, the daughter can
do the final rites and get the property of her father. Then only the equality between
men and women would be achieved. He wanted all the evils against women in the
society should be abolished.
15. C.Subramania Bharati, AGNI and other Essays, Poems and Translations and other Prose
Fragments, p.85
16. Sadasivan, Growth of Public opinion in the Madras Presidency, p.115
17. Sarala Rajagopalan, Op.cit., p.270
94
An ardent social reformer, E.V.Ramasamy Naicker, respectfully called as
E.V.R. Periyar (1879-1973), in order to establish an egalitarian society based on
complete gender equality, wanted to put an end to mass illiteracy of women and lack
of property owning and inheriting rights from which they suffered on a ‘priority
basis.’ In this context the words of Werner Foros are meaningful and memorable.
Werner Foros, President of the Washington-based Population Institute had cited a
survey and said, “Women today do two-thirds of the work, earn only one-tenth of
the money and own less than one percent of the property. So the empowerment of
women is perhaps the most important intervention we can pursue”. 18
As a true rationalist, E.V.R. Periyar advocated forcefully, throughout his life
that women should be given their legitimate position in society as the equals of men
and that they should be given good education, and also the right and be worthy
citizens of their country. Man treats woman as his own property like commodity and
not as a being capable of feelings like himself.
E.V.R. Periyar emphasized the gender justice, and to correct the focus with
new thinking and ideology that would help retrieve the “marginalized section”
(women) of society from the “dominant culture,” his inter- alia took up the cause of
women as his life mission right from the day when he entered the public service.
Through press and propaganda and through the Self Respect Movement and Dravida
Kazhagam, the well-organized movements of his as also with some like-minded
people, he tried to beard the lion (orthodoxy and reactionaries) in its den.
He said that the denial of property right to women resulted in their
subordination to men hence; women themselves should come forward to fight for
18.S.K.Ghosh, Indian Women Through the Ages, p.204
95
their own cause.19 He also asked “Despite there being a Goddess of Learning and a
Goddess of Wealth in Hindu religion, why do they not grant women their education
and right to property”? Among the many reasons for the subjugation of women, the
most important one was that they lacked the right to property.
E.V.R. Periyar probes into the past conditions of life revealed to him gender
inequality. In a pre-historic primitive society men and women lived in groups and
enjoyed the fruits of labour in common.
There was neither accumulation nor
ownership but all in the group shared their gains according to their requirements.
There was no distinction, no sex-based differences, and no institutions like marriage,
property, family and inheritance. In the absence of private property rights there was
no compelling necessity for any one to claim a child as if born to him.
The
institution of marriage should have, indeed, followed the coming into force in the
society of the right to save and own property.
E.V.R. Periyar held the view that a woman was necessary for a man to
maintain the family property while staying back at home to protect the property.
The woman herself became man’s property. The man wanted heir to inherit the
property, a heir who was his own. This led the man to own woman for him so that
the heir could belong to him, as his own progeny. He also said that, “once the right
to own private property belonged to man’s domain, the woman in consequence was
enslaved with her natural rights stripped off”.
20
Marriage’s enforcement should
have followed the conferment of property ownership rights on men.
He was not ignorant of the fact that when a large chunk of the male population
itself did not own property, how would women stake their claim? But towards
achieving equity and social justice in society, the identification and disclosing of the
problems of women found an important place in his agenda of reform.
19. M.D.Gopalakrishnan, A Garland to E.V.R. Periyar , p.62.
20. Dravida Nadu, dated 02.11.1947, p.11
96
By tracing the history of human society, E.V.R. Periyar probed into the origin
of property, marriage and inheritance. This interpretation of history was Marxian.
Marriage, family and inheritance were common heritage to all geographical and
globally dispersed societies. Mankind had passed through several stages - primitive
communism, feudalism, capitalism and socialism.
Again it was thus marriage
system, which was responsible for birth of children and earning and saving of
property for the sake of the children.
At the Tirunelveli district Self-Respect Conference, which held on 28th
November 1927, E.V.R. Periyar as the President, pleaded with the Government to
give equal rights to women like men, to inherit or possess property as that would
make them economically independent.21 On that occasion, among other resolutions
the following two resolutions were passed to that effect:
(1)
In Hindu families where the widows refuse to marry, they should be given
right to property of their deceased husbands.
(2)
Properties in Hindu families should be equally distributed between men and
women without any sex discrimination.22
In 1929 Self-Respect Conference held at Chengalpattu, in which a resolution
was passed. It stated that “this conference resolve that women should be given equal
rights with men for property and for the privilege of succession.” 23 He emphasized
the need once again in his editorial in Kudiarasu in December, 1929 thus, “like men,
women should have property rights and like women, men should have all virtues and
good character and laws enforcing these should be made without any delay”. 24
21. Sarala Rajagopalan, peranmaiyalergalin pennurimai sinthanai (Tamil), pp.134-135
22. Kudiarasu, dated 11-12-1927, p.12
23. Ibid., dated 22-12-1929, p.8
24. Viduthalai, dated 25-1-1960, p.6
[[[
[[
97
To relieve women, from their parasitic social evils, the reformers and right
thinking men and women had themselves started to raise a protest against the denial
of shares in the property to the widow and to her daughters.
The Self-Respect Philosophy of E.V.R. Periyar refers to the assertion of one’s
individuality against exploitation, discrimination and injustice. He said that “if the
woman is denied the right to property that would tantamount to waging a war
against her self-respect.” Hence, while speaking on the occasion of a marriage in
July 1930, at Virudunagar, E.V.R. Periyar thundered: “the parents of the bride
should give a share of their property to her. Like men, women too have right to
property and right to work. If not, how will the women live with self-respect in the
society?”25
In October, 1930 at Madras under the Presidentship of T.R.Venkatarama Sastri
and in the presence of former advocate General and Law Member of the Madras
Government, T.K.Narayanakurup, E.V.R. Periyar addressed a large gathering in
which the problems and rights to women had been highlighted. In the meeting a
consensus was arrived at regarding the need to give women the right to own and
inherit property, on par with men, the right for alimony and the widow’s right to the
property of their deceased husbands even after re-marriage.26 Giving wide coverage
to this meeting, he wrote in the Kudiarasu: “it is the duty of those who wrote for the
liberation of women to see women shedding fear and survive attitude that stand in
the way of their securing their right to property”. 27
In fact, E.V.R. Periyar had an unflinching faith in the British government in
India that they alone could introduce reforms and did not expect anything from the
Sanatanists and orthodox reactionaries. He was aware that the denial of right of
women to own or to inherit property, absence of love and widow remarriage and the
25. Ibid., dated 22-8-1930, p.6
26. E.V.R. Periyar On Women’s Rights, p.51
27. Kudiarasu, dated 26-10-1930, p.9
98
right to divorce would lead to other social evils like prostitution. Hence, to eradicate
this malaise from society, he advocated the need to attend to those causative factors
by passing necessary laws, while detaining some of the rules and regulation for the
conduct of Self-Respect Marriages (SRM). He wrote in his journal as, “as per the
old marriage system the women did not have the right to property. They did not
have equal rights with men in the family… Where as SRM are based on the
recognition of equal rights of women in owning or inheriting property and also in
sharing rights equally with men in running the family”.28
Socialist Programme formulated by E.V.R. Periyar in 1932, emphasized that
(i) the landless agriculturists should be safeguarded from exploitation by landlords
and money lenders. The Government should do every thing to see that agricultural
workers are not deprived of their small land holdings for defaulting payment of rent.
(ii) the Government should itself possess all clear land documents, in order to reduce
the number of cases arising out of dispute of the ownership of lands.29
E.V.R. Periyar’s followers set an example to others by adhering to the
ideology of the Self Respect Movement. He was all in praise of the bride-groom in
whose marriage, held in September 1939 at Nagercoil, the bride-groom had
registered a property worth of Rs. 5000/ in the bride’s name.30 If the Government of
India wanted to continue their rule undisturbed, he suggested, that they would do so
by passing social legislations aiming to establish social equality in the society.
Among other reforms, he added, the Government could introduce a legislation
giving equal rights to women like men.
A marriage function was held in June 1940 at Kanchipuram in which the
dogmatic and hard-hitting E.V.R. Periyar, like a commoner, placed a common
argument before the gullible masses as to the need to give woman an equal share in
28. Puratchi, dated 17-6-1934, p.14
29. E.V.R. Periyar E.V.R. A Pen Portrait, p.133
30. E.V.R. Periyar On Women’s Rights, p.62
99
the family property like their male counterparts. He said, “if we give a share of our
property to our daughters, the daughter-in-laws will also bring in their share of
property to our family. In such a case, there will not be any profit or loss in the
family.”31 Ultimately, E.V.R. Periyar’s aim was to drive home the fact that people
should recognize the right of women to property.
Of all the reformers, E.V.R. Periyar alone attacked for the first time, the
ideological basis of the ‘enslavement of women’ in society. He worked for the cause
of women during his seven decades of public service with a well disciplined
supporters and followers. His papers and organization came to his defense against
vituperative attacks and brickbats. It is a well-known fact that it was only to retrieve
the “marginalized section” [women] of the society from the “dominant culture”.
E.V.R. Periyar took up the cause of women as one of his goals of his life
mission right from the day when he entered the public service. Through propaganda
tour and platform speeches and through the social organizations like Self-Respect
Movement and Dravida Kazhagam, he courageously met the forces of orthodoxy
and reactionaries.
He did not accept the notion that women in society had been the real stumbling
block to progress. On the other hand, he strongly viewed that if the rights to
education, property and inheritance were given to women, they would not wish to
confine their lives to the kitchens, bedeck themselves with jewels and end up with
innumerable problems of marriage.
Lenin wrote that “without the women, there could be no true mass
movement”. 32 The reformers and political elites of both the sexes seem to have
31 Ibid., p.66
32. Winifred Holtby, Women, p.183
100
assumed that the problem of the women had been practically solved with the legal
and administrative measures adopted by the government. There was no denying of
the fact that the large masses of women were still exposed to exploitation and
injustice. Thus, the social and political parity of the women guaranteed by the
constitution was still a distant objective.
Other than the above personalities, the first man to speak out publicly against
the injustices perpetrated on women in the name of tradition and religion was Raja
Ram Mohan Roy who, wrote a tract condemning sati.
He once commented,
“Indian women have all rights except the right to assert them”. 33 Evidently, the
legal system safeguarding the interests of women was hardly sufficient without the
support of an equally favourable system of values and behaviour based on the socioeconomic historical traditions. He also spoke in favour of the property rights of
women. 34
Women’s Organization and the Suffrage Movement
The Women’s Organization in India was both a necessary antecedent and a
consequence of the changing social and political environment. Educational and
social reforms for women formed an integral part of modernizing the country and
society. Women had organized themselves in a variety of ways in an effort to
improve their position within Hindu society.
In India, in the past, women were holding offices in Southern and Central
India from its inception in the 19th century. The participation of women in politics
began even from the end of the 19th century. The birth of the Indian National
33. The English works of Rajaram Mohan Roy, p.xviii
34. Aparna Basu and Bharati Ray, Women’s Struggle A History of the AIWC.,1927-1990, p.1
101
Congress (INC) in 1885 provided a political platform for Indian women. 35 In 1900,
the first women delegates attended the Calcutta session of the Congress. This was
the dawn of a new era, which saw Indian women take an increasingly active part in
political activities. Later they emerged in thousands and their role in the Indian
Nationalist Movement was unique, who came from all age groups and classes, castes
and religions.
Under the eminent leadership of Annie Besant, S.Muthulakshmi Reddy,
C.N.Nallamuthammal, Mrs.Jesudas, Ammu Swaminathan, Visalakshi Ammal,
Jinarajadasa, Bhagirathi Sivaram and a host of others took active part in the struggle
for legal right of women. In the seventh session of All India Women’s Conference
at Luknow S.Muthulakshmi Reddy, Mrs.Kurien, Mrs.Yakub Hussain and Deaconess
Bewer represented Madras.
S.Reddy, while seconding the resolution in the
conference said, “as regards women’s problems we are the best judges.
But
unfortunately the ignorance of their rights, however limited had been deprived to
women in actual practice. Madras was not backward in education and the women of
the province are advanced in education”.36
The Women’s India Association, Madras and All India Women’s Conference
held meetings to request the government to bring agricultural lands under the
operation of Hindu Women’s Property Act. Members like S.Muthulakshmi Reddy,
Mrs.Savithri Rajan, Miss.Vilasini Shenoy and Smt.Swarnammal supported
resolutions, requesting the government to pass necessary legislation since the
provincial legislature was not functioning. The AIWC meeting held at Bombay
urged the central government and the provincial government to sponsor necessary
legislation to include agricultural lands.37
35 Manmohan Kaur, Women in India’s Freedom Struggle, p.3
36. Stri-Dharma, Jan. 1932, p.199
37. Ashine Roy, Development of Women, An Assessment, p.222
102
Women’s India Association’s General Secretary S.Ambujammal emphasized
that piecemeal Legislation to amend the Law. A recommendation was made to the
effect that a committee of non-officials consisting of a Chairman, six other members
of whom not less than three should be women appointed to examine the report on,
(a) Rights and Disabilities in regards to ownership and disposal of property
(b) Rights of Guardianship over children
(c) Rights to Maintenance
(d) Rights in respect of Joint Family Property
(e) Rights of Inheritance and Succession
The members of Madras Legislative Assembly, WIA and AIWC insisted the
Madras Government to pass legislation to include agricultural lands as
recommended by the Rau committee on Hindu Women’s Right of Property. After
more than five decades of planned economic development, it is ironical that we are
still trying to tackle the basic need of a minimum standard of living such as, drinking
water, shelter and sanitation and employment.
Not much of success has been
achieved on the poverty eradication front of women, especially the lack of granting
property right to women. In all these and many other essential aspects of economic
development, women have been left far behind.
Women’s Franchise Right and Property Right
The political status of women can be defined as the degree of equality and
freedom enjoyed by women in the shaping and sharing of power and in the value
given by society to this role of women.38 It refers broadly to “activities by those not
formally empowered to make decisions, these activities being mainly intended to
38. Sharada Rath and Navaneeta Rath, Women in India A Search for Identity, p.167
103
influence the attitude and behaviour of those who have powers for decisionmaking”.39
The political participation of women is necessary as a means of gaining
sufficient control over decision-making on the government level, to make necessary
changes for women and to enjoy equality with men. Until they are involved in
political process women as a whole will be excluded from making decisions that
have important effects on their lives. The two major forces which acted as catalysts
in the achievement of political equality of women were the national movement and
the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.40
Ownership of property and payment of taxes used to be considered as a
qualification for the right to vote. J.S.Mill, political scientist said, “it is important
that the assembly which votes these taxes, either general or local, should be elected
exclusively by those who pay something towards the taxes imposed. Those who pay
no taxes, disposing of their votes at other people’s money, have every motive to be
lavish and none to economize as far as money matters are concerned.” Thus, many
were also in favour of limited franchise. They were of the view that the exercise of
franchise was not a right but it was a duty and it should only be given to the
educated and qualified persons who could best handle it. Hence, in the beginning
even men were also denied the franchise right because, education and property were
considered as the qualifications for right to vote, and which were applicable to
women. 41
Before independence, there were a few women rulers, administrators, warriors
and occasionally women were appointed agents when the ruler was a minor. The
39. National Perspective Plan for Women, 1988-2000 A.D. (Department of Women and Child
Development, Government of India), p.153
40. Anita Arya, Indian Women, p.93
41. B.C.Rout, Political Theories Concepts and Ideologies, p.153
104
advent of Gandhiji gave a boost to the life of women.
He encouraged women to
take part in the national, political and social movements of the nations. He struggled
for the freedom of the country as well as for the freedom of women. From the
beginning of his entry into Indian political arena, he associated himself with
women’s cause and sought their help when necessary.
Women are no longer content to remain stationary and confine themselves to
the duties and interests of the household. This change of outlook on their lives is
indeed a fact of great significance. Women are also being granted the franchise in
the legislative and municipal bodies in the country. They are asserting their rights to
enter other walks of life which had not attracted them for a long time. Having
regard, taking into account the material enlargement of the opportunities available to
women, including the grant of wider right of citizenship, it is not right and proper, as
well as essential, that the legal disabilities attached to their sex in the sphere of
family and property rights should also be removed.
Wherever we find woman economically dependent, we find her position
inferior, subordinate and wherever we find her economically independent, her
position elevated and advanced.
Since education and property became the qualifications of suffrage right of
women, social movements paid attention towards adult education for women, and
similar to the Women’s Institutes in England, movements for women’s liberation
were also started in different parts of India, in particular in Bengal and Madras. The
Federation of University Women in India composed of Associations of Women
Graduates, in order to promote concerted action, interest of women in society.
In this context, it becomes a necessity to state the fact that the foundation for
political participation of women was laid down during the nationalist movement but,
105
there was no follow up or concerted effort to broaden the political base by
incorporating women into political process after independence.42
Sex attitudes are not independent of social and economic milieu but are shaped
by the controls, instituted by the classes that were dominant in the society. The
realization of this fact is indispensable for a clear understanding of any social
movement, particularly the women’s movement, which though apparently based on
sex, has its real roots in the economic basis of society and women’s position is
determined not by what is commonly called, ‘civilization’ or ‘culture’ but, by the
entire frame work of the society.
The interesting fact is that new forces are beginning to assert themselves in the
social and political life of the country.
Not only movements of political
emancipation and legal and social reform, but also the natural desire to obtain a
reasonably high standard of education and to participate in the surging life of the
nation, have changed the outlook considerably. Indian women are seeking equal
opportunities with Indian men, and the latter are generally sympathetic to the efforts
made to raise their status.
The women’s movement in India has had, therefore, a fairly smooth sailing.
Although it began originally as a social and educational reform movement, it was
fast becoming an all-embracing end. In 1918, the INC placed the national seal of
approval on the principle of granting franchise to women. 43
In India, a new Municipal Act was under development to give equal franchise
right to men and women, but some of the councillors were troubled because, unless
some special franchise qualification given to women, very few of them would be on
voter register (a) all tenants paying a house rent of Rs.2 /- per month (b) all owners
42. Women’s Link, Vol.17 No.4, Oct-Dec.2011, p.18
43. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, The Awakening of Indian Women, p.10
106
paying land rent of Rs.1-6/- per month and (c) all graduates and barristers etc. Thus,
most men would be enfranchised but only a very few women.
The remedy
suggested by one councillor, who had the cause of woman’s progress deeply at his
heart, was that atleast one woman in each house, the tenant or owner of which has a
vote, should also be entitled to a vote. He saw no other way to bring women on to
the voters list for the Municipality, the Legislative Councils, the Assembly and the
Council of State. It was also absolutely necessary that women should influence all
these Legislative bodies, but until we get Universal Suffrage, in many parts of the
country, hardly any women would qualify.44
For the old franchise qualification was restricted, being based on property,
which under the present legal disabilities entitled few women to vote.
The
proportion of women voters to men varied between 1 to10 as in Madras and Bombay
to 14 in Assam, a most discouraging state of affairs. But even the prospect of
increasing the women voters would not tempt the women into agreeing to the
wifehood qualification which was rightly resented as placing a premium on marriage
and perpetuating the dependence of woman on man instead of recognizing her
independence to suffrage.
The literacy-qualification was a mere mockery in a country where barely 2%
of the women were literate. The total number of women enfranchised under the new
constitution was about 6 million – 2000000 by property, 4000000 by wifehood and
3000000 by literacy. The proportion was 1:5 (1 woman to 5 men that means 20%).45
Constitutional advancement, accompanied by extension of the franchise is an
inevitable necessity in the interest of national progress and national efficiency.
Constitutional reform should always aim above the existing requirements, and reach
44. Stri-Dharma, Nov.1925, Vol.9 No.1, p.1
45.Ibid., Dec.1929, p.39
107
the level of future requirements and the Indian women deserve an extension of the
franchise.
Women’s organizations continued their efforts and presented petitions before
the Southborough Franchise Committee to press for their rights. The response was
once again negative as the Committee, in its report, stated that extension of the vote
to women would be premature in a society which continued to enforce purdah and
prohibition against female education. 46 This led to protest meetings in various parts
in India.
Margaret Cousins was the founding member of the Irish Women’s Franchise
League. From 1906-1913, she was one of its prominent speakers and campaigners,
and had the organizing capacity and the patience to initiate an association of women.
In the first few months of organizing the Women’s India Association (WIA), she
had gone door to door requesting ladies to become its members. She organized a
number of meetings and personally encouraged them to come forward to express
their opinion on any question relating to women.
The women were fearful of
criticism from their families and friends and showed a lot of reluctance. Prominent
among those who first joined were Sarojini Naidu, S.Muthulakshmi, Kamaladevi
Chattopadhyaya and Lady Sadasive Iyer.
The WIA was conceived and organized by British women. The movement
itself was largely in response to similar movements in the West, particularly in Great
Britain. The WIA, throughout its campaign about suffrage, had acknowledged the
inspiration received from the Suffragette movement in the West.
In 1917, the
Women’s India Association while addressing the Secretary of State, E. S. Montague,
had compared their position with women in the other parts of the Empire, and
46. First Annual Report of Women’s India Association, 1917, p.51
108
suggested that Indian women, like their counterparts, should be franchised and
included in local governments.
Annual session of the INC as well as many Congress committees also passed
resolutions recommending the removal of sex disqualification in voting. 47 They
were attending Congress sessions as members and representatives; they had
organized women’s meetings and were involved in various processions and public
functions. Although the women had emphasized their political awareness, their
participation in public life in 1917 was very limited. Significant political
involvement was to come after the First World War. Prior to 1917, the women had
limited franchise in Bombay and Madras. The number of women who could vote in
Madras was so small that it failed to make any impact on their consciousness,
politically, and they did not protest when it was withdrawn. In Bombay, women did
vote for the Bombay Corporation and the Municipality.
The first challenge the WIA faced in the political sphere was the question of
women’s right to vote. In 1917, Montague, the Secretary of State of India toured
India to assess the country’s need for post-war reforms. Although a number of
deputations were scheduled to meet Montague, none of them related specifically to
the needs or interests of women. Margaret Cousins noted this discrepancy. She
organized a deputation of women to meet Montague and to impress upon him the
desire of Indian women to be enfranchised and to have better educational
opportunities.
The women’s deputation demanded that they be included under the expanded
franchise in the new Constitution which, instead of discriminating on account of sex,
should ensure equal opportunities to women. The delegation considered itself to be
47. Herabai A.Tata, A Short Sketch of Indian Women’s Franchise Work, p.22
109
representative of the women who had become conscious of their duty and
responsibility in public life.
Margaret Cousins took vigorous steps towards the upliftment of women. She
wrote to D.K.Karve at Poona enquiring about the possibility of a deputation to wait
upon the Secretary of State and the Viceroy. Accordingly, a deputation under the
leadership of Sarojini Naidu met E.S.Montague, the Secretary of State of India and
Lord Chelmsford, the Governor General and Viceroy of India in Madras on 18 th
December 1917.48
When dealing with the complex questions of women’s welfare, most women’s
organizations gave priority of place to the subject of political rights, as these were
regarded as fundamental to all. The idea of women’s franchise was mooted first in
1917, when a deputation of Indian women waited on Edwin Montague, the then
secretary of State for India.
The representatives under deputation included several women’s organizations
like the Seva Sadan, the Mahila Seva Samaj, the Indian Women’s University and the
Women’s Branch of the Home Rule League. Fourteen women were included in the
deputation with Sarojini Naidu as their principal spokesperson. The Indian members
were all young and inexperienced. Many years later Sarojini Naidu was to recall that
the idea of women meeting important people such as, the Viceroy of India seemed a
bold and daring adventure. Although members were projecting a radical image, they
had subconsciously relied on conventional behaviour and had spent considerable
time worrying over their appearance. They had wished to reinforce their arguments
by a colourful and picturesque appearance.
48. S.Muthulakshmi Reddy, Mrs. Margaret Cousins and Her Work in India, p.3
110
WIA and AIWC were the only two organizations with branches and offices
throughout the country. The first concrete step was taken when WIA organized the
first delegation of Indian women demanding franchise to meet the MontagueChelmsford Committee on Constitutional Reforms in 1917. By 1921 the
organization had established 48 branches and membership of 2,700. 49
The
delegation demanded voting rights for women on the plea that they also held
independent opinions about the reforms needed for the progress of India. However,
no attention was paid to them. They however, became increasingly involved in the
question of women’s right to vote and were largely responsible for organizing the
Suffragette Movement in India. 50
But in the Montague-Chelmsford reforms that followed, no mention was made
of voting rights for women. 51
This brought about an identification of their
campaign. From then on, progress was rapid and in the short space of thirty years, a
dream became a fulfillment. The women’s deputation was sympathetically received,
but no mention was made of it in the Montague-Chelmsford Scheme of Reforms.
The British government appointed the South Borough Committee to examine
the question of franchise. There was only one Indian in the Committee, C.Sankaran
Nair, who was a staunch supporter of women’s political rights.52 The Committee
came to India in 1918. The members of WIA also many eminent women and social
workers urged the committee to grant women the right to vote. But the committee
rejected it.
Southborough Committee was established to make a detailed study of the
question.
Representatives of women’s organizations throughout the country
49. India Year Book, 1923, pp.552-555
50. Vijay Agnew, Elite Women in Indian Politics, p.106
51. Social Welfare in India , Planning Commission, Government of India, p.141
52. Southborough Franchise Committee Report, 1919, p.12
111
attempted to meet the committee members and to impress upon them their desire to
be enfranchised. Prominent among the organizations which met the committee were
the WIA including representatives of 40 branches, the Women’s Graduate Union of
Bombay and the Women’s Branch of the Home Rule League. In addition, the
women of Bombay organized a petition signed by 800 ladies reiterating their
demand for the vote.
The main demand was the franchise right of women. The Congress supported
their demand by passing a resolution at the Calcutta session under the Presidentship
of Annie Besant. The Bombay special session of the Congress and the Delhi session
of the National Congress supported the cause. The Muslim League also supported
women enfranchisement in September, 1918.53
The South Borough Committee received numerous petitions from the 40
branches of the WIA, Women Graduate’s Union, Women’s Home Rule League and
other important women’s organizations in the country, urging the cause of female
suffrage on the same property qualification as for men or at least the admission of
women graduates of the franchise. The claims of the Indian women to exercise the
power to vote were entirely ignored, and the recommendation of the committee
being the total exclusion of sex irrespective of qualifications of education, property
and social position from the franchise.54
The arguments used by the Southborough Committee were familiar to Indian
nationalists. The government had often refuted the representative nature of the INC.
It was noted that the Congress did not represent the masses and its demands were
limited to the educated middle classes. The members of the WIA were undoubtedly
an elite group of rich and educated women. But at the same time there was no
evidence to suggest any opposition for enfranchising women. The two largest
53. E.C.Gedge.&M.Choski, Women in Modern India , p.8
54. Southborough Franchise Committee Report, 1919, p.4
112
political associations, the Congress and the Muslim League, supported their
demands. The Muslim League in 1918 had voted in favour of extending the
franchise to women. The INC had expressed similar sentiments at its special session
in 1918.
The Joint Select Committee did not demand for enfranchisement, the vote for
all women, as for sometime to come universal suffrage might not be practicable in
India, and they claimed that the same qualifications as were laid down for men,
should not be debarred from the enjoyment of right to vote on account of their sex.
It claimed voting right for almost about a million of women out of 300 million
populations, and that these women would largely be the most independent, the best
educated and the tax paying women in the country.
Dewan Bahadur M.Krishnan Nair moved the resolution on women’s Franchise
in the Madras legislative council in 1921, the first legislature in India to grant
women the right to vote. WIA felicitated him at a meeting; he said the cause of the
women’s franchise was so strong, just and good that it was bound to succeed and
that the attitude of the council was on the whole very sympathetic. 55
The Southborough Committee published its report in April 1919 but did not
recommend extending the vote to women. The social conditions of India made it
premature to extend the franchise to Indian women at that juncture.56 The Report
acknowledged the support women’s franchise had received from their educated
counterparts. A distinction was, however, made between a general demand for the
vote and a demand limited to the small group of educated women. The committee
had received no evidence of support from the local government except in Bombay
and Assam. In consideration of the conservative sections of the population and the
55. Pratima Asthana, Women’s Movement in India, p.112
56. Report of the Statutory Commission, Vol.I, Survey, p.49; G.O.No.172, Pub., 31 March 1919;
G.O.No.568, Pub.,5 October 1919
113
social customs of the country, the committee felt it was not advisable to extend the
suffrage to include women. The custom of secluding women was specifically
mentioned as one of the many problems in recording and registering voters.
Sarojini Naidu appeared as a witness before the Joint Committee of Lords and
Commons hearing evidence for the Government of India Bill. She was careful to
point out that she, as the representative and was fully acquainted with the views held
by a wide cross section of the population, interests and groups. The Suffragette
movement in India was largely in response to western ideas and influences. The
success of a few distinguished women of India in the arts, science, social reform and
politics was evidence of their ability and attainments. Sarojini Naidu enumerated a
long list of eminent women and questioned the justification of denying them
political rights. 57 The practical difficulties of enrolling and registering purdah
women were no different from protecting the interests of the minority groups. There
seemed little rationale in denying the vast majority of women the right to vote in the
interests of a small group.
The debate regarding women’s franchise in Madras, Bombay and Bengal
reveals the attitudes of the three major communities: the Hindus, the Muslims and
the British. In Madras, the Council debated for an hour and a half before it was
apparent that they would vote in favour of the legislation. The Council included
eight Muslim members, four Westerners and non-Brahmins. The Brahmins were the
leaders within the traditional hierarchy of caste. They favoured maintaining the
status quo, as social reform and legislation indirectly challenged their traditional
notions of authority and privilege. The Muslims in comparison with the Hindus were
more conservative and orthodox. They had lagged behind the Hindus in introducing
57. Aruna Asaf Ali, “Women Suffrage in India ” in Shyam Kumari Nehru(ed) Our Cause: A
Symposium of Indian Women, p.353
114
education among their women. The custom of purdah and seclusion of women was
against the spirit of the legislation.
The Government of India Act, 1919 did not enfranchise women, although it
empowered Provincial Legislatures to remove the sex restriction on voting at their
discretion. It was further laid down that women should share in every way with men
in the privileges of citizenship.58 The government expressed concern about the social
customs and susceptibilities of Indians. Such a matter could only be decided in
accordance with the constitutionally expressed views of the Indians themselves.
Hence, Madras granted voting rights to women in 1921 followed by Bombay. 59
Later on, many of the Provinces immediately introduced resolutions to
franchise women. The resolutions were passed in United Provinces in 1923, Central
Province, Bengal and Punjab in 1926. The women could now vote, be elected or
nominated to provincial legislatures. By 1927 women started entering the Provincial
Legislatures.60
S.Muthulakshmi Reddy was the first woman to sit in the Madras Legislative
Council. 61 The demand to extend more voting rights to women was continued and
the Simon Commission, which visited India in 1927, suggested that voting rights
should be given to property owners and literate women and actual participation
assured through reserved seats.62 The provincial franchise was still a property one
but its scope was enlarged to include thirty million voters, one sixth of the adult
population.63 Women received the vote on the same terms as men, but the surviving
property qualification restricted their numbers.
58. Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, p.383
59. Aruna Asaf Ali, Op.cit., p.356
60. J.K.Chopra, Women in the Indian Parliament, p.14
61. Indian Ladies Magazine, August-September, 1927, p.14
62. Aparna Basu & Bharathi Ray, Op.cit., p.55
63. Percival Spear, A History of India, Vol.II, p.208
115
The British members were expected to give a lead to members of the other
communities. They, however, voted against social reform legislation like the Age of
Consent Bill and the extension of the franchise to women. Social reformers and
Congress leaders had accused the government of methodically supporting
conservatism, hardening social customs and fixing conditions in the Hindu society to
the determent of progress. Margaret Cousins witnessed the debates and recalled how
the British members emphasized the importance of social customs and conventions.
S.Muthulakshmi Reddy vehemently denounced the attitude of the British members.
The British government in her opinion and in the opinion of the majority of
our public men and women, was not willing help for our moral and social progress
and was adopting a policy of utter indifference, neutrality and sometimes, direct
opposition to all our social reform measures. Hence, even women came to realize
that a foreign government had no sympathy for the legitimate aspirations of the
people and could never actively help in mending our defective social system. 64
In Bengal, the resolution to remove the sex disqualification was at first
defeated. The women of Bengal were informed only 17 days prior to the
introduction of the legislation. In that short time they organized an intensive
campaign. The District towns held public meetings in support of the legislation and
communicated their resolution to the Council. Surendranath Bannerjee who had
opposed the extension of franchise to women was persuaded to change his opinion.
The ladies held meetings for the members of the Press and the Councillors. The
debate in the Council was dominated by the Mohammedans who were apprehensive
of introducing any change.
They exaggerated the fact that about one woman to every eight men might vote
once in three years and every woman would be compulsorily keep voting all the
time and meals would not be cooked. They inflated the fact that purdah polling
64. Marshal M.Bouton & Philip Oldenburg, India Briefing, 1989, p.22
116
stations would be provided into which women might enter as unseen as into a ladies
carriage, into the terror that ‘sexes would mix promiscuously’ and that ‘Islam did
not want Mohammedan women to go hand in hand with men to bazaars, Councils
and Courts.
The first election under the Government of Indian Act of 1919 was held in
1926. The Act enfranchised less than one per cent of the total female population.
The high percentage of voters in Madras and Bombay indicated the level of literacy
among its female population and its attitudes towards reform referring to women.
Bengal’s attitude towards social reform was liberal but its elite and nationalists
resisted legislation sanctioned by the British Government.
On 21st of March 1922, an influential group of Bombay ladies sent a telegram
to the Congress leaders, urging upon the then ensuing session of the Congress at
Karachi to pass a resolution enfranchising women on the same terms as for men and
thus, consequent on the Hindu woman’s holding property in her own right all
possible steps thereto should be taken. 65 Women’s needs for relief from certain
oppressive social customs as well as certain unjust laws had to be taken into account.
The various handicaps placed on women should make all true lovers of the country
so determined as to do all in their power at least to see that general principles to
safeguard women’s needs be laid down in the future constitution, not only for their
sake, but in the interests of the whole country. Women deserved all the major
justice because they preserved us, moulded us and were the true makers of a country
and its people.
65. Geraldin H.Forbes, (ed.,) Votes for Women: The demand for Women’s Franchise in India 19171937 in Vina Mazumdar Symbols of Power: Studies on the Political Status of Women in India,
p.11
117
Feminists like Margaret Sanger and the representatives of women’s
organizations like Agatha Harrison frequently attended the annual sessions of the
AIWC and the WIA. From 1924, a small sum of money was regularly contributed
by the International Women’s Alliance to the Women’s India Association to help
them to meet the expenses for propaganda and election campaigns.
The WIA was conscious of their dependence on the British Government for a
change in the electoral laws and they conducted a campaign to educate British public
opinion on the need of such reforms. In 1928, the Association decided to establish
regular contact with women’s organizations in Britain. Dorothy Jinarajadasa
organized a London Committee of the WIA to gain public support. Rameshwari
Nehru and Dhanvanti Rama Rau, its leading members, addressed innumerable
women’s organizations such as, the Women’s Freedom League, the International
Alliance of Women and the Women’s Institute. 66 The London Committee soon
expanded to include besides Indian women living in London, British women as well.
In India, Madras was the first State and Bihar the last, to enfranchise women in
1921 and 1939, respectively before the Constitution of independent India came into
force in 1950 enfranchising women on equal terms with men.67
Women’s Movement in India achieved success in the field of their political
representation easier than the British and American counterparts. The women’s
campaign passed through two phases. In the first phase from 1917 to 1920, the
issues were female enfranchisement and eligibility for the legislature and in the
second phase extending from 1920 to 1937, liberalization of the terms of
enfranchisement and increasing female representation in legislatures. 68
66. Stri Dharma, 1929, p.78
67. All India Women’s Conference , brochure, 1928, p.1
68. J.K.Chopra, Op.cit., p.12
118
In 1930, three Indian women participated in the Round Table Conferences
held in London to settle Indian political future, and in 1935, when a restricted
system of franchise was introduced, women were accorded the vote. But it was not
till the dawn of India’s freedom and the adoption of her new constitution, when
elections were held on the basis of adult suffrage, that women really secured
complete political parity with men. They now enjoy the right to vote and seek
election, the right to seek and hold public office and the right to exercise public
functions.
In 1939, the Legislative council of Bihar and of Orissa granted franchise right
of women. In India, on the same terms as the men, the women also achieved the
same. Various congratulatory messages were received from all over the world by the
WIA, after the victory in Women’s Suffrage Movement.69
The female property originated from one possibility that in almost every
family at some time there could have been a generation with only daughters, who
would accordingly succeed to the property.
This was the hypothesis which
instinctively tended to reject the rights of women without brothers, and often were
denied to women by other male than getting protected and there were cases which
went up to the Privy Council when the male members of a family disputed the right
of an only daughter to her father’s property.
Comparatively this is bound to be of later origin as it started in 1917 and
consequent to the Muddiman Committee Report of 1925, the Montford reforms gave
Indian women an equal status in right to vote. 70 When in a country like England,
the women had to fight for a long time the way was smoothened for this political
right to the Indian women. It marked the beginning of their participation in public
69. Ibid., p.13
70. P.S.Joshi & S.V.Gholkar, History of Modern India From 1800 to 1964 A.D, p.191
119
life. That was why hundreds of women participated in the demonstrations and in
many movements.
Resolution was in favour of the removal of the sex disqualification for the
franchise through out India. Sir Alexander Muddiman has brought the matter to one
stage which was nearer to success. He said that before it was given effect to the
Rules connected with elections, conferring of the vote on all qualified women in
India was a necessity. 71
At this juncture, All India Women’s Conference joined the movement in 1931
and organized a meeting of women’s representatives at Bombay in collaboration
with Women’s India Association and National Council of Women in India. 72 Due to
their efforts the Franchise Committee of the Round Table Conference in its report
(1931) recommended extension of franchise to a substantial increase in proportion of
women voters.
However, the White Paper in 1933 came as a shock as it
enfranchised the wives of property owners and literates, and it was a stringent
qualification for election.73 Less than 30 per cent of women were eligible to vote and
thus, the actual disparity between the electoral power of men and women was even
greater than the eligibility requirements suggested.
The sixth All India Women’s Conference was held at Madras in 1931-32 (28th
Dec. 1931 to 1st Jan. 1932) in which three women’s organizations in India were
represented. The conference emphasized Educational and Social Reform, Annie
Besant and Muthulakshmi Reddy, attended and passed resolutions on social reform.
This conference strongly protested against the legal disabilities of Hindu women in
matters of personal and property rights and was of the opinion that they should
71. Stri-Dharma, Oct.1925, p.129
72. All India Women’s Conference, Annual Report, 1931, p.13
73. Aparna Basu & Bharathi Ray, Op.cit., p.57
120
forth-with be removed. 74 This conference also supported a Bill of Rai Sahib
Harbilas Sarda, which proposed measure to obtain a share for the Hindu widows in
their husband’s family property. They should make it a point to protest against the
legal disabilities of women in the matter of personal property. It was unfortunate
that Sarda’s ‘Inheritance Bill’ did not get successful passage in the Assembly. But
the supporters of the legislation did not loose heart over the defeat of the motion in
the Assembly. In 1937, Deshmukh introduced his Bill on “the Hindu Women’s
Right to Property” in the Assembly. 75 This was referred to a special committee, and
inspite of the many meritorious changes, the Bill had withered down in favour of
widows only, ignoring the rights of daughters and female heirs.
Disappointed over the final provision of the Bill, women of the land organized
several meetings to request the government to reappoint a new committee to
examine the position of women (daughters) under the Hindu law.
In Madras
Presidency, Smt.Radhabai Subbarayan, a member of the Central Assembly
undertook a tour of the province to insist the government over the appointment of
the committee. In South Canara Women’s Conference, Smt.Subbarayan explained
the difficulties faced by the members in the Assembly in getting a Bill passed in
favour of women.
During its Annual Session in 1933, the AIWC demanded for the equal status
for women in the right to franchise, which was supported by WIA and NCW
(National Council for Women).76 These organizations spoke in favour of suffrage
on equal terms and argued for public participation of women through their
Conferences and Seminars. These organizations were enthusiastically supported by
74. Stri-Dharma, Jan. 1932, p.199
75. Ashine Roy, Development of Women , An Assessment p.222
76. All India Women’s Conference, Annual Report, 1933, p.17.
121
all the important political groups, the reformers and the revivalists, which at last
paved the way for a favourable atmosphere for women’s right to vote.
The important fact to be noted that the Suffragette movement in India was a
fight against orthodoxy, ignorance and reaction and not against the other sex. The
Indian woman desired the vote not from a sense of self-aggrandizement but from a
desire to fulfill their duties and responsibilities in public life. Sarojini Naidu at a
meeting of women in 1935 briefly sketched out the Suffragette movement in the
West. The Indian woman did not have to fight as long or as bitterly as their British
counterparts. India’s culture and tradition sanctioned the equality of women and this
sentiment had facilitated the cooperation of the male population and of the Congress.
As a result, in the 1937 elections to provincial legislatures, both the male and
the female electorates were greatly expanded so that approximately 43 per cent of
the females were enfranchised. 77 Since then women have been participating in
political processes, as voters, as candidates contesting the elections, involved in
deliberations both in the State Assemblies and the Parliament and also through
holding public office at different levels in the judiciary.
Women’s India Association had as its aim advancing the interest and
furthering the progress of the women in India. Due to the persisting efforts of
women’s organizations, legislators and social reformers, on 2 April 1946
Deshmukh’s Bill to give Hindu Married Women’s Right to Property, was passed
and while congratulating Deshmukh, Ammu Swaminathan, a member of the
Assembly said that the bill would give a little relief to the Hindu women who had
been suffering from legal disabilities for centuries. In the same year, they ratified a
77. J.K Chopra, Op.cit., p.301
122
Charter on Women’s Rights and a Memorandum for the Central and Provincial
governments which had been drawn up by two sub-committees. 78
The Provinces where women have the vote, equally with men were Madras,
Bombay, Bengal United Provinces, Assam and Punjab. It was also the case with
Burma. Bihar had only lately enfranchised its woman and it was gratifying to know
that there were men members who realized the necessity of getting women into the
councils, hence, the need to rectify the one-sided policy that had existed in
man - made laws.
The rise of the Modern State brought with it a proliferation of intermediaries
and sharers-in-power as Parliaments and political parties, and a huge number of civil
servants became features of government in many countries. The idea gradually
evolved was that political participation was not an exclusive privilege but a
universal right for men and women.79 The state of near exclusion persisted even
after the legal barrier to women’s participation began to fall, around the turn of this
century. The new India of post independence period registers marked a difference.
The independent India provides a conducive atmosphere for the emergence of
women from the darkness of woman-as-chattel to the light of woman-as-person,
involving the arduous move from discrimination and compromise to the struggle for
self-determination and autonomy. The most courageous political experiment made
by Republican India is the introduction of Universal Adult Franchise in the country
which ensures political equality. Further the Article 15 of the Indian Constitution
prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex. And yet, the Constitutional sanction
is enjoyed only to a limited extent by women in Tamil Nadu.
78. Aparna Basu, Op.cit., p.12
79. Jawaharlal Nehru, Op.cit., p.391
123
The phenomenon in the Post-Independence Era is that, women are increasingly
taking interest in political issues and activities. There is greater awareness among
women about the power that the right of franchise given to them. The Constitution
of India has given the right to women to contest for legislature and executive bodies,
from Panchayat to Parliament
Our society is a multifarious one, with its language, caste, creed, custom and
convention.
Hence, there is no uniformity in the customs of the people. The
following table shows the system of property / dowry practice of different
communities and their location.
124
Table – 3.1
Marriage Custom of Various Communities
1.
Name of the
Sub-caste
Agamudaiyar
2.
Badaga
3.
S.N.
CateGory
BC
Location
Custom of Bride-Price
Others
Chingleput,
North Arcot
Salem,
Trichinopoly
Coimbatore
(Poor)The sister of bridegroom proceeds to the bride’s Widow -Remarriage
home with women cloth, few jewels and flower presented allowed
to the bride. (prosperous) pariyam (bride- price) as per
puranic, a longer custom.
BC
Nilgiris,
Vizagapatnam,
Anaimalai Hills.
Who want of labour Badaga’s promise his daughter in No bride-price is paid
marriage to the son, and after engagement bridegroom by the husband
serves the father of his betrothed, and after marriage he
becomes partner in the general property of the family of
his father-in-law.
Brahmins
OC
Madurai and
other districts
Bridegroom usually pays a small sum of money as a Widow -remarriage is
bride-price. At present, paying handsome dowry by not allowed
bride’s father to the bride groom is common.
4.
Eravallar
MBC
Coimbatore
Pride-price is only a rupee
5.
Idaiyan
BC
Coimbatore,
Chingleput
A man on marriage joins his wife’s family and he Divorce and remarriage
succeeds to the property not of his father, but of his of widows are
father-in-law. Pays bride-price (Pariyam)
prohibited
125
A widow can marry a
widower
6.
Kadir
ST
Anaimalai, South
Coimbatore
On the day of wedding feast, vice, sheep, fowls and Remarriage is
luxuries things are given by the parents of the bride- not allowed
groom. Gives her a dowry by working for a year.
7.
Kota
ST
Nilgiris, Kolli
Hills
On the day of the marriage, the bride groom pays a Polyandry is unknown,
dowry, ranging from Rs.10 to Rs.50 to the bride’s father. Polygamy is rarely
Divorce is decided by the Panchayat Council
practiced
8.
Maravans
BC
Tuticorin,
Koilpatti,
Srivaikuntam,
Nanguneri,
Tiruchendur
Before the appointed day a formal agreement is made Widows are eligible for
orally between the parties and the bridegroom’s people go remarriage, and getting
to the bride’s house and give the parisam usually a present divorce is easy
of jewels (ear lobes) and silk cloth to the bride’s parents.
9.
Muduvars
ST
Anaimalai Hills
The tribes follow the Malabar region or Marumakkatayam Polyandry and
law of inheritance with a slight difference, the property remarriage of widows
descending to an elder or younger sister’s son.
are allowed
10.
Muthurajas or
Mutharayans
BC
11.
Nadars
BC
Kulithalai,
is
not
Bride-price (Pariya panam) range from Rs.7/- to Rs.100/-, Divorce
Musiri,Trichy,Ma depending on economic status
recognized widow napparai
remarriage is
not
common, but it is
occasionally practiced
Tirunelveli,
Bride-price is usually presented as jewels and a huge Polygamy &
Kanyakumari,
ransom of money
remarriage are not
common
Nagercoil
126
12.
Paraiyan
SC
Trichy, Tanjore,
Salem,
Chingleput,
South Arcot
Pariyam bride-price varying in amount from Rs.2/- to Polygamy is not
Rs.20/common. A widow
chooses her second
husband
13.
Toda
ST
Nilgiris
To the girl her father gives five buffaloes
14.
Vannar
15
Vanniars
MBC
BC
Madurai, Tanjore
Polyandry and
remarriage of widows
allowed
Bride price is there, divorce may be obtained by either Remarriage permitted
party on payment of double the bride price usually Rs.10
to Rs.8
Kambam,
Pazhani,
Nilakkottai,
Melur
At the betrothal ceremony, the future bridegroom goes to
the house of his prospective father-in-law where the
headman of the future bride is present. The bride-groom
headman or his father then hands over betel, flower, the
bride-price (pariyam), the milk money (mulapal Kuli) and
a coconut to the father or headman of the bride saying
“the money is yours, the girl is mine”. The bride’s father
or the headman while receiving them says, “The money is
mine, the girl is yours”
Tirunelveli,
16
Yadavas
BC
Some Yadavas observe an uncommon rule of inheritance
Nilakkottai,
according to which a woman who has no male issue at the
Dindigul,
time of her husband’s death has to return his property to
Uttampalayam
his brother, father or maternal uncle. She is however
allotted a maintenance amount. And another odd form of
inheritance is observed by others among them: a man’s
property descends to his son-in-law who lives with him
and not to his son.
Source: Thurston Edgar, Caste and Tribes of South India, Vol.-I to VII
127
Divorce rarely
happened
Widow re-marriage is
in practice
Table -3.2
Dowry System and Inheritance in Various Districts of Tamil Nadu
S.No. Name of District
Dowry / Property to Women
Coimbatore
In the early days, it was usual for the bridegroom to
1.
pay a small sum of money as a bride-price, but now-aday the opposite practice of paying a handsome dowry
by the bride’s father to the bridegroom has become the
rule. The marriage ceremony is performed in the
bride’s house and the bride’s father generally bears all
the expenses.
2.
3.
4.
Madurai
(1) In general, a man can claim his paternal aunt’s
daughter as a wife and if she has married to any one
else, it is said, he is entitled to get the same amount of
dowry which the aunt received at her own marriage
(2) When the wedding takes place, the sister of the
bridegroom usually goes to the house of the parents of
the bride and presents them with 21 coins.
Ramanathapuram Dowry system is fairly prevalent among all the caste
and communities in the district.
The amount of
dowry depends mainly on the education and wealth of
the proposed bridegroom. The amount is paid either
in cash or in the form of gold or jewellery or property.
Salem
Possibly the custom is sort of compromise between
matrilineal succession and Brahmanical law. There is
a reason to believe that “mother-right” prevailed in the
early Dravidian society.
Under a system of
inheritance through females, a man had no interest
whatever in finding out whom his father might be.
Paternities done under the influence of Aryans, in
which father begins to take a interest in their sons.
But under “mother-right” a man cannot transmit what
he inherits to his own children, for his sister and his
sister’s children are his heirs. The only way to secure
the family property in the enjoyment of his own
children is to marry them to children of his sister. The
same advantages would accrue to a marriage between
himself and his sister’s daughter, the family property
being saved from disruption. A marriage between his
own daughter and his sister’s son would be still better,
for it would make a male to combine the properties of
his wife and his mother.
128
5.
Tanjore
The bride’s mother is paid a bride-price (parisa
panam) (the price of suckling the girl) by the bridegroom. Impanam (Rs.5/-) is a common sum.
6.
Tirunelveli
Generally disregard the custom of morai (morai
system, a man must marry either his father’s sister’s
daughter or his maternal uncle’s daughter or his own
sister’s daughter) bride. The crudeness of commercial
transaction is often softened by the inclusion of
additional jewellery in bride’s dowry; some times the
bride’s parents contract to pay the educational
expenses of their prospective son-in-law.
7.
Trichirappalli
System of inheritance made as per the Hindu law,
sons share the properties, and daughters are given
certain amount of money as dowry and jewels at the
time of marriage. Transfer of property through will is
very rare.
Source: Tamil Nadu District Gazetteers
Arumbu Kuttra Velallas
In the Indian society women were suffering for centuries due to their
dependency on men, and the main reason was the absence of right to property to
them, and subsequently they came to enjoy that right due to positive and
commanding constitutional measures.
Velallas are the most important communities in Tamilnadu, and in Tamil
literature there is reference to ‘narrkudi 48000 Velallas’ 80and among them are the
communities namely,
Arumbu Kuttra Velallas and Narrkudi Velallas. They have
unique customs, which is not followed by other communities in Tamilnadu.
Women, after their marriage, went with their husbands and lived with them, in
their homes. This act tantamount to signing in a Bond of Slavery. The married
women served their husbands and their parents with absolute obedience. This was
80. Pulavar Manian, Varalattril Velan Kudigal , (ed) Veraga Nirkum Velankudi
K.A. Kuppurasu(Tamil) 1991, p.72
129
the general phenomenon in the Indian society. It is in this context, we are surprised
to find that a segment of population in which the women are enjoying the right to
property, and freedom from male-domination. In fact, the men have no power to
make dictatorial declaration against the women in their families. Such is the case in
the village called Tiruvetriyur.
There is a Siva Temple of about 500 years old with a reservoir called Vasuki
Thirthum in front of the temple.
Persons bitten by poisonous insects such as,
snakes, scorpion etc., take a bath in this Thirtham, perform abishekam to the deity,
and swallow a few leaves of the Sthalavruksha, viz., Nimbavanam tree (Neem tree).
Patients from different parts resort to this place for a cure. The temple is dedicated
to Vanmiganathar (Pasham Butranathar in Tamil) and Abibakthanayaki (Bhagam
Piriyal in Tamil). Annual festival is held in the month of Chithirai for ten days.
Lord Vishnu is said to have performed pooja here to get relief from the sin
committed by Him, by His maltreatment of Mahabali during his Vamana Avatar.81
In token of it, there is a Vishnu temple at this place.
Though there is the Siva temple, the Arulmighu Bhagam Piriyal Amman temple
which is situated near R.S.Mangalam Panchayat Union, is renowned in Tiruvetriyur.
Shakti Umayal (Umadevi) got equal part of Siva’s body as share by penance with 21
days of severe fasting. This is celebrated as Deepavali Nonmbu. Shakti was not
separated from Siva and got a share. Hence, she was called Bhagam piriyal, and at
present she is worshipped as Bhagam Piriyal Amman.
Social custom of Arumbu Kuththi Velallas
Arumbu Kuttra Velallas are basically agriculturists by occupation. They are
also called as Velan Kudigal. Their society is of matriarchal and matrilineal. Hence,
they welcome the birth of a boy or a girl with equal importance. Matriarchal is
81. Gazetteer of India, Tamil Nadu State, Ramanathapuram District, p. 176
130
lineage not out of existence in the district. The women in the district generally are
held in high esteem, and there is no crippling of their freedom. Their society is a
matrilineal one (the property right is given to the women). Even ration cards are
issued in the name of women, as head of the family. And their deity is Bhagam
Piriyal Amman. Education is given for both the gender. In the olden days girls did
not prefer to take up a job.82 Nowadays, women are working as teachers.
Child marriage is not in vogue among the Arumbu Kutra Vellalas. The
marriage of a girl is performed between 20-25 years, and after puberty is an ideal.
They do not believe in jatagam (horoscope). They are seeking marriage alliance
within their community living in the surrounding seventeen
Kizharumbur,
Melarumbur,
Kothangudi,
Machur
83
villages like
Devasthanam
Chatram,
Tiruvengampattu, Allikudi, Irumbavayal, Devakkottai, Kandankudi, Tirupalikudi,
but all the marriages are arranged by the relevant families.
The marriage is
celebrated for three or four days. 84 These days, for the sake of time management,
the marriage is performed for only one day.
The daughter is only the coparcener in their community; and the socially
pernicious dowry system is not in practice. Generally, after the marriage a woman
will go with her husband to the in-laws house, whereas the Arumbu Kutra Velallas
follow completely different customs: the married woman remain at her parent’s
home, and the husband accompanies his wife and settle down in his wife’s home as
the custom of Marumakkatayam
in Malabar region.
Hence, the women are
enjoying 100% rights without the in-laws persecution, in their parent’s house.
At the time of marriage, rich family adorn the daughter with 40-50 sovereign,
according to their family status, and the jewels given to the daughter remain with
them, as is the custom of Marumakkatayam in Malabar region. The custom of the
82. Interview with Mr.Ratnam, on 4-6-2010
83. Dinathanthi, 20-12-2009, Madurai Edition
84. Zee Tamil Television Report, 20-4-2010
131
Arumbu Kutra Velallas is that they do not accumulate property even if they have
more wealth, and wealth is given to their daughter. She is the queen of the house,
and she is the sole receiver of the property.
Generally at the time of marriage, many Tamils are used to sing songs like
“manamagale marumagale vaa vaa” to welcome their daughter-in-law, but
interestingly, the Arumbu Kutra Velallas, invite their son-in-law as “manamagane
marumagane vaa vaa”
85
to their home. He permanently remains in his wife’s
house, and after all, wealth determines the power of a person whether male or
female.
Another important community among the Velallas is Narrkudi Velallas, they
also follow the same customs of the Arumbu Kuttra Velallas. Narrkudi Velallas
mostly live in and around Thuthugudi and Tirunelveli districts in Tamilnadu. Their
unique custom is the expenditure of marriage is fully borne by the brides, including
the purchase of tali.86 The marriage takes place in the bride’s house. Daughters only
have right to property, including the immovable property.
After the marriage the
bride-groom stays with the bride’s house, even if he is the only son to their parents.
Girls have the right in decision-making in their house.
Land Administration under the British Rule
The processes which brought to birth of new forms of society worked long
in darkness before the result of Industrial Revolution, was revealed to our eyes. So
now a new system of order spread over Europe-the distinctive order of the feudal
age. On the other hand, the institution known as feudalism established various
grades of authority. In the feudal structure the elemental fact was land ownership. 87
85. Dinathanthi , Manamagane Marumagane vaa vaa, an article, 20-12-2009, Madurai Edition.
86. Interview with Mrs. Thailasundari, on 2.11.2011
87. R.M.Maciver The Elements of Social Science, p.31
132
A man procured land from another who thereby was his ‘superior’. Property
in land was the ultimate criterion of rights. As Sidgwick pointed out, this was a
reversal of the original principle of the Teutonic village community, where the land
was assigned to those who possessed rights as heads of families. In the feudal
system the idea of citizenship as such disappeared. The feudal system was therefore,
a hierarchy. But the greatest dividing line was the one which was between the
landowner and the land-cultivator.
88
There was no unity in the feudal state.
Sovereignty was land ownership, and the Lord of a manor rules in his degree like the
Lord of a Kingdom. In feudalism proper the whole class as land-cultivators was
graded like feudal classes but nowhere enjoying the liberties or the powers of
citizens.
Land was being viewed increasingly as a form of social insurance, something
to fall back on in hard times. In most of the States in India, women had no right
over property. The areas where matrilineal system was existing, women had equal
right with men regarding hereditary property. But the system of land ownership and
inheritance practices are not introduced with the idea of giving women a special
status though they have a pivotal role in the whole structure. Only a few women in
India own land.89
As far as women are concerned they are rarely principle earners as
ownership of land is mainly in the hands of men. But they provide labour in the
fields.
Women being themselves earners, are comparatively free from male
thralldom, though social traditions do reduce them to a position inferior to that of
men, socially as well as economically. As for the laws of inheritance, they do not
affect even 50% of the women as they own no property.
88. Ibid.,pp.32-34
89. Ani Lukose, Status of Women in Kodaikanal, p.6
133
The thousand acres of land held by the landlords should be distributed
among the actual tillers. The tenant cultivation should be continued and the temple
lands given on lease to the landlords should be taken over and given to the
agricultural labourers for cultivation.
The society life is broken up into a class-society with the leisured rich
exploiting the toiling masses. Manual labour becomes a sign of degradation. The
women become victims of this class-determined society, each rocked by its own
disastrous forces. Thus, while the women of the richer classes lose their legitimate
economic duties and their hands grow weak and helpless, as hosts of slaves and
servants stand around to do their slightest bidding, their idle brains droop limp and
inactive, and down amongst the toiling masses of women, the hands grow thin and
coarse, the minds weary and exhausted. Feudalism comes with its aristocracy and
it’s plebeian.90
The English Government being the first western holders of territory on a
large scale in India had singular difficulty in understanding the land tenures and
sufficient caution was observed to avoid important error, yet quite a special literature
was created in the attempts to solve the different problems.
The British acquired the Tamil country from the Sultan of Mysore, the
Marathas of Tanjore and the Nawab of Arcot in different stages.91 When the British
took over the administration of the Carnatic region, their first endeavour appeared to
be one of making land revenue a definite source of income.
The first quarter of the nineteenth century was a formative epoch in the land
revenue policy of the province. In this period three land revenue systems were
90. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Op.cit., p.2
91. V.L.Sastri, Encyclopedia of the Madras Presidency and the Adjacent States,1920-21, pp.130-134
134
adopted namely, Permanent Revenue Settlement, the Village Settlement and the
Ryotwari Settlement. Of these, the Permanent Revenue Settlement and Ryotwari
Settlement existed between 1802 and 1948.92
The term ‘Ryot’ was used as the appropriate designation for the cultivators
possessing occupancy right. In the Ryotwari system, the ryots paid the land tax
directly to the government. The revenue administration of the district was headed
by a Collector.
Under him Tashildar, Head Assistant, Village Karnam was
appointed to carry out the revenue administration. The village Karnam prepared the
area of cultivation undertaken by the ryots in different hamlets and rent was fixed at
the time of cultivation.93
Land revenue settlement of that day was divided almost exclusively into two
well defined classes, Ryotwari and Zamindari. Nearly all Bombay, Madras and the
greater part of Assam were under the ryotwari and in the other part of NorthWestern provinces, Central province and Punjab; the form of settlement was
Zamindari. 94
The word, ‘Landholder’ is used to designate the Zamindar or other person
occupying a similar status under the bill. This is the term used in every enactment
from the Regulation of 1802 down to Act VIII of 1865. For the land of an estate
was offered to the cultivation of which admittance by the Zamindar, conferred, an
occupancy right upon the cultivator. The term “public cultivable land” was used to
differentiate such land from the home or private domain of the landholders.
According to the Act VIII of 1865, the term ‘shist’ has defined as ‘Rent’. And
also the same term was employed to signify alike that the Government ryot pays to
the state, and the Zamindari cultivator pays to the Zamindars. The word ‘shist’ has
92. B.S. Baliga Studies in Madras Administration, Vol.II, p. 82.
93 G.O. 211, Legal Department, dated 10-11-1949; Romesh Dutt, The Economic History of
India,p.89
94 C.D. Maclean, Manual of Administration of Madras Presidency, Vol.I, p.1
135
accordingly been adopted as being both constitutionally accurate and in accordance
with the native practice when employing the language of the country. 95
In the Zamindari areas, the headquarters of the revenue establishment was
located at the capital village of each Zamindari from where the Zamin officials
carried out the revenue affairs of the estates. The supervision of the entire revenue
administration was entrusted to a diwan or manager.96 He was assisted by officials
like Karnam, Nattanmaikars and Kavalkars in every village. The District collector
and in whose district the Zamindari was situated, supervised the revenue collection
of the Zamin estates. The Zamindars appointed their own men as village servants.
The Karnam prepared the pattas for the ryots which mentioned the rent payable by
the peasants and received engagement from the ryots called muchilikas. The amount
shown in each patta was entered into the Variyedu (tax-register).
The village
nattamaikars collected and remitted the land tax to the Zamin treasury. 97
The Zamindar annually paid the annual payment called, peshcush to the
government. The peshcush was generally determined according to the net revenue
of the Zamindari. It was fixed with the revenue that was collected from the ryots,
remained constant and was not liable to be raised from time to time. 98
British intervention carved out a space for men’s individual property rights
from system based on community or joint ownership.
Changes in property
ownership through ‘Permanent Settlement’ developed a landowning class and
conversely this served to undermine the claims of women, in Tamil Nadu and other
regions of Kerala. Sometimes a point at issue between the parties to a dispute was
not covered by any statute or custom. In such cases, the courts were required to
95.
96.
97.
98.
The Madras Estate Land Act, 1908-1948, Vol.I, p.V
Proceedings of the Board of Revenue No.4467, dt.15-8-1865
Estate Land Act Committee, Land Holders Statement, Part III, Madras, 1939, pp.373-374.
Madras Information, Vol.I, No.8, 22 February 1947, p.28
136
apply the personal law of the parties. This practice was adopted in India during the
early British Rule.
It was regarded a stroke of liberal statesmanship when the British Parliament
by the Act of Settlement of 1781, permitted the application of their own personal
laws of the Hindus and the Muslims in all matters of religion and marriage,
succession, inheritance maintenance and family relation etc. But it is well known
that women’s rights under the personal laws were inferior to those of men.
It was further enacted in 1795 that where the parties belonged to different
religions, the law of the defendants was to be applied. If the defendant happened to
be a European or a non-Hindu or a non-Mohammedan, the law of the plaintiff was to
be applied. But with change in conditions, some of the personal laws of the Hindus
and the Mohammedans were amended. After independence, this process had been
further accelerated with a view to bring about social reforms. 99
India is largely an agricultural country. In 1818 people dependent on land were
only a little over 50% due the destruction of Indian Industries by the British. Many
of the jobless industrial workers, who were forced on to the land, having no capital
for investment, were reduced to labour for daily wages.
Among the four varnas, in 1881 in the northern districts of Tamilnadu and in
Tanjore the Brahmin landowners were chiefly the “owners” of landed property.
Among the Brahmins, the maximum percentage of land holders in Godavari was
39%, whereas in Coimbatore the minimum landed property holders was 1%.100 In
1939 nearly half the agricultural population was landless, and they were the most
exploited part of population economically and socially, and being unorganized, they
were the most hopeless.
99. N.D. Kapoor & Rajni Abbi, General and Commercial Laws, p.15
100. C.D.Maclean, Op.cit., Vol .II, p.226
137
To understand the imperial policies and subversion of women’s property rights
in India deserve our concern. The customary law of land, backed by the full force of
the colonial administrators, safeguarded the landed property from a woman’s
possession. Interestingly, not allowing women to inherit property was a view that
struck a sympathetic, even enthusiastic chord among many British officials. The
British perception of these customs, which they also made legally binding, was
significant.101
The present landlord system is a creation of British Imperialism by which the
old tax-collectors and revenue farmers were made loyal adherents of Imperialism in
India by investing them with full proprietary rights. Nearly one-third of the land is
under this system. Not only are the exorbitant variation between 55-75% of the
income, but in addition several other illegal exactions and secret rents are collected,
driving the tenants to utter destitutions.
The tenants are helpless against this
oppression, for the Government has fortified their allies, through Tenancy Laws
which vest the landlords with very extensive powers against the tenants. 102 The
British administrator’s own attitudes regarding female inheritance were closely
identified with the primary concern of the colonial government, which did not want
to disturb the patriarchal equilibrium within the rural society of India. Oldenburg, in
her book, ‘Dowry Murder – The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime’, argues that
land reform policies and the creation of a masculine culture deprived women of their
rights and made them vulnerable to family violence.
Oldenburg again comments that the British had not granted their own women
rights to property, so it was highly unlikely that they would shed their prejudice
while introducing this ‘progressive’ notion of private property. They granted these
101. Flavia Agnes, Women and Law in India, p.xxii
102. Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Op.cit., p.27
138
rights exclusively to men so that they could collect their taxes from male proprietors
who could be taken to court or sent to jail if they defaulted.103
Since property and its regulation forms the basis of all civil laws, the legal
systems located within feudal and capitalistic patriarchal moulds would necessarily
be based upon anti-women stipulations to varying degrees. Though the patriarchy
was located within the parameters of Indian feudalism of the Smriti and Post-Smriti
period, it is evident that despite the negative dictates, there were certain protective
measures built into the laws and customs, which granted women certain significant
rights over property.
In the economic sphere and in particular in the rural sector, the empowerment of
women relates mainly to their access to means of production and control over the
fruits of their labour. The access to the means of production implies ownership of
land, other productive assets and access to capital.104
The aspect of ownership of land relates to rights of inheritance which govern
personal laws of different communities.
These personal laws, at present, are
discriminatory against women and have a bias in favour of the male heirs. The State
Governments of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu have sought to remove
some of these discriminations with a view to give daughters in the family,
coparcenary ownership in the family property on the same level as the sons. 105
The decisions of the Court of Law established under the British rule have
played a large part, not only in ascertaining and supplementing but even in many
respects modifying the Hindu Law. But even these changes do not go far enough
and still thrives on discrimination against a married daughter and a widow, and do
103. Flavia Agnes, Op.cit., p.xxiv
104. N.Andal,Women and Indian Society, p.227
105. Farhat Jahan, Women in India, p.122
139
not apply equally to the separate properties of the father in the Hindu Customary
Law. There is discrimination against women of different types in the personal laws
of other communities also. In the Customary Law of certain tribes, only male
agnates in the male line are recognized as valid heirs and an unmarried daughter is
only entitled to usufructuary maintenance.
It would be necessary to introduce correctives to overcome the discrimination,
in order that the gap between the State’s proclamation to achieve equality of the
sexes and its laws, which deny it, is bridged. Women’s undiluted access to land, the
most productive resource, would undoubtedly bestow on her necessary economic
independence and power and would improve her social position in the family as
well.
Regarding access of women to land, the land records do not incorporate the
rights of women in the landed property shown in the name of the husband or the
father. Only where a woman is a widow and happens to be the ‘karta’ of the family,
her name may figure in the record of rights as the owner of property.106 As regards
access to capital there is general reluctance on the part of the public financial
institutions to extend credit to women independently of the male head or guardian of
the family.
Co-ownership of property by women should not merely be confined to land
but also other productive assets like house, family wealth, shops, factory or any
other income generating establishment of asset.
This would provide sufficient
conditions for women to participate and influence the decision concerning the use
and disposal of such properties.
The existing land ownership pattern in India is largely male oriented except
in some areas of the north-east and a few other places where matrilineal system is in
106. Ibid., p.123
140
operation and inheritance of property passes through the institution of the mother.
The land records, to the extent they reflect the ownership and other interests in land,
and that too only the names of men. Similarly, where share holders of such lands
are recorded, it is usually the male shareholders who find mentioned in the land
records.
Land Reforms in India during Pre-independence period
Intermediary Tenures
Historically speaking, the land tenures in India can be classified on the basis
of the following rights in India:
(i)
right to collect rent from the cultivators on payment of land
revenue
(ii)
right of occupancy that is the right to the possession and use of
land
(iii)
right of collection and use of land revenue in part or in full.
Since early times, the privilege of levying the land revenue or rent has been
kept separate from the privilege of occupying and cultivating the land. The state had
the privilege of levying the customary rent, but the village community or the
individual members of it had the privilege of occupying the land on permanent,
heritable and transferable basis which has always constituted the essence of the
rights in land. Some semblance of feudal organization began to emerge in the
beginning of the 18th century, since direct assessment and collection of land revenue
became difficult due to political and administrative disorder.107
The processes of preparation of land records that is the survey and recording of
rights also deal with such male holders of interests in land. The only exception
107. Encyclopedia of Social Work in India,Vol.2, p.147
141
would be in such cases where a widow with no other male person, manages the land.
Her name is recorded as the owner and manager of land.
Land reform measures have also not taken into cognizance interests of
women as co-owners or cultivators of land, and to this extent land reform
measures seem to have passed the women.108 The most prominent example where
this inherent discrimination in land reforms has been noticed is the case of ceiling
laws where most State laws have provided for a separate unit of ceiling for major
sons in the family but not major daughters, married or unmarried.
Although from the point of view of implementation of such ceiling laws
addition of yet another unit in the name of major daughters would have further
defeated its objectives, nonetheless, the discrimination cannot be denied. Further, in
the matter of distribution and allotment of various lands, it is usually the male head
of the family who gets ‘patta’ in his name.
Recently, of course, instructions have been issued to give joint ‘patta’ on the
name of both husband and wife while allotting land and house-sites.109 Similarly in
the matter of collection of minor forest produce and enjoyment of rights over
common property resources, the rights of women are not focused, even though it is
the women, who have to collect fuel-wood and fodder and minor forest produce
from such lands.
Tribal social structures are more egalitarian and open and less stratified than
social structures of larger and more advanced communities in India. The status and
position enjoyed by tribal women in society, is therefore, in certain tribes, much
better than their counter- parts in other communities. This is on account of many
108. Ibid., p.118
109. Ibid., p.119
142
reasons. Tribal society in Tamil Nadu, has a tradition of both men and women
working on equal footing whether in agriculture or in other fields. Thus, tribal
women have access to income and are therefore, economically independent. There
are also no restrictions on women going out for work independent of men, and not
necessarily along with them. Usually tribal women go out for work in large groups.
In social matters, and family life also tribal women are far more emancipated. They
have a much greater say in the decision making in family and community matters
and are not subjected to the same degree of social control by male members of the
family as women in other communities also.
The Revenue Department
The Madras Estate Land Act was introduced as a bill in 1905 during British
administration and it was changed into an Act in 1908, and it was the first enactment
in the Presidency that brought on statute the relationship between the landholder and
his ryots. The Act was intended to safeguard the ryots. But the ryot population has
been gradually over burdened with taxation in the shape of process fees and others
demands.
It went through many amendments according to the wishes of the
Landlords and Ryots, giving due consideration of their suitability till 1948. 110
Afterwards, the Estate Act was abolished and converted into Ryotwari Act.
The rule of East India Company disorganized the village autonomy of India.
They did not recognize the village community or their autonomy to fix and collect
the annual state revenue from village land. But the previous rent collectors and
auction bidders and others were made responsible for State relation. It was a death
blow to the village panchayat system. Zamindars in their terms used to lease the
110. Land Administration During British Period, The Madras Estates Land Act 1908- 48, p. I
143
estates to renters or Izzardars111 (a person who takes ryot land for torrent when there
was ryots already on the whole or part of the holding) at the highest rates who in
their term used to ‘pillage the villagers’ by squeezing the ryots’ last drop of blood.
Their ability or consent at the cultivating community of the village was not a
question for their consideration.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, both the Ryotwari system and the
permanently settled Zamindari estates were over assessed in its original value. The
inhabitants were in a state of abject poverty and involved themselves in debt. They
had no means of paying the kist and suffered punishment due to arrears. It forced
the government to announce reduction of rent.112 However, the main defects of over
assessments were corrected through survey and settlement. It enabled the ryots to
pay the kist, and they were able to keep sufficient money for their maintenance and
continue their cultivation. It resulted in the increase of cultivation which in turn
enhanced the revenue of the government.113
The Revenue officials of the Zamindari areas were under the influence of
Zamindars, who arbitrarily fixed the rent and forcefully exacted the dues which
affected the prosperity of the ryots. Some Zamindaries ignored the practice of
issuing pattas to the ryots showing the extent of cultivation and the amount to be
paid by the ryots.114
The source of the varied exactions of the Pettandars, Izzardars, Zamindars
and above all the state, all sailing one over the other, was the poor tiller of the soil.
In western estate like Venkatagiri and eastern estates, rents were first raised to a high
111. G.O. 686, Revenue dated 3-2-1909
112. Proceedings of the Board of Revenue , 22 October Vol.1138, p.1224; Nilmani Mukerjee, The
Ryotwari System in Madras, pp.198-200
113. Board of Revenue, No.6132, dated 26-8-1868
114. G.O. No.99, Land Revenue and Settlement, dated 16-8-1922.
144
pitch soon after the permanent settlement. This was the first effective method from
raising rents in those days. In estates where Zamindars dealt with ryots directly,
every renewal of lease resulted in increased rents. In villages of our enquiry every
such renewal meant an enhancement of at least one-fourth in the rupee.
A
considerable portion of the rise constitutes the income on the serf lands, unjust levy
on the dry garden crops under ‘Mulumzarib’115etc. A factor in the rise of rentals
was commutation, a major portion of the rise to many estates.
Some estates
committed their grain rentals into cash even long before the estate land Act and
many did so just before or soon after the Estate Land Act. The price list given by
the Zamindars could not be questioned by the poor ryots. Before the commutation
being no impartial enquiry was conducted as to what was the lawful rate or the
established waram of the place. Infact, in some estates, the nominal rent was higher
than the real rents. There was nobody on the ryot’s side to represent the matter in
the large number of Estates.
The land holder has every reason to demand a share of the grain produced
and the ryot has every right to ask not to be driven to money lender or to make a
forced sale of his produce to pay the land holders in money. In order to help the
ryot, the Rent Recovery Act of 1865 was enacted. The wade policy of the British
Government all over the world had been in the time immemorial to keep its subject
under the protection of its judiciaries as against the tax gathered and thus safeguard
their property, person and honour. 116
There was no enactment for landlords to follow the severe rules brought to
bear upon them for the collection of assessment and as no such enactment had been
115. Memoranda of Estate Land Committee, p.519-20
116. G.O. No.2, Law, dated 5-1-1906
145
made by government117 and as Act No.8 of 1865 then in force for the recovery of
rents from their tenants was very defective.
Ryotwari Tenants Council recommended to the government that immediate
legislative steps be taken to give occupancy rights, subjects to reasonable conditions,
to the cultivating tenants or not less than six years continuous standing under the
ryotwari landholders through out the Presidency.
In 1910, the Board of Revenue instructed the Special Settlement Officers
who were working then in five districts to submit detailed report on the
number and condition of
sub-tenants in the various firkas.
The result of the
enquiries,
(i)
that there existed no idea of occupancy rights among these tenants
(ii)
that the relations between landlords and tenants was generally good
(iii)
that there was no demand from tenants for any protection118
It is in the context, we have to understand about the state of modern
agriculture, and the words of Annabelle Perkins are enlightening indent.
"Modern
agriculture, is an essential to India's food supply, requires relatively large land plots.
Despite the destruction of most of the wide irrigation dikes, many Khalapur
landholdings are already too small to utilize modern farming equipment.
Landholdings in poorer states are even smaller. Land inheritance by daughters and
by daughter’s daughters would quickly divide land holdings among people living in
diverse locations. Furthermore, it is the labour of sons that harvests the land and
earns the money for investments such as tube wells and tractors. Sons may put in
many years of labour between the time that their sisters marriage and their parents
die. Equal inheritance by daughters means that they benefit from this labour without
117. G.O. No.21-22, Leg., dated, 28-4-1906
118. G.O.No.1767, dated, 1-6-1925, (General)
146
having contributed to it. Daughters must hire people to work parental land,
becoming absentee landowners, or sell their shares. Unless they sell to their brothers,
the patrilineage is deprived of ancestral property. The opposition to female land
claims is understandable, and it seems unlikely that it will diminish". 119
The focus is on the status of rural women, and their equal right to productive
resources, especially land, keeping in view the fact that the implementation and
scale of land reform in India. Given the overwhelming desire of women to be
considered as individuals above all other classifications, and for direct ownership of
property to be able to emerge from the shadows of dependence, much needs to be
done in the legislative, executive and legal spheres to address the issues pertaining to
women’s right.
Women have equal right in productive resources, especially land and their
present status. The following structural contradictions continue to thwart the
realization of women’s equal right. 120 From the above all to make the following
observations:
(i)
Reforms were introduced in India in the decade of the 1950s. While
national guidelines were laid down, and many of the measures could not
be challenged by any state in the Indian Union, land reform was made a
state subject. Each State could decide on procedure and implementation
within these broad national principles. The area of our concern is the
state’s direction on inheritance of agricultural land and the principles on
which land is distributed.
119. Annabelle Perkins, Gender and Inheritance Law Reform in Maharashtra, p.80
120. Economic Political Weekly, May 4-10, 2002, p.17
147
(ii)
Land reform measures adopted by the Indian Union or respective states
are not in accordance with any personal law of any community.
In
matters of inheritance and marriage, divorce, adoption and maintenance
or spousal support, personal laws prevail over their jurisdiction
(iii)
In matters of women’s right to inheritance of agricultural land, states
either have their own policy or refer it to the principles of personal laws.
But, in general the opinion is that, the society exhibits contradictions in
realizing the demand for women’s equal right to land and productive resources.
Under codification of the Hindu law some rights granted to women.
148