Amend law immediately to ensure Hindu women’s rights to property

Human rights activists have called for amendments to the Hindu Law of Inheritance to ensure Hindu women's equal rights in properties.

They also called for immediate implementation of a draft amendment they prepared.

While handing over the draft to the law minister Thursday at a virtual programme, the rights activists urged the government for special measures ensuring equal rights for women to properties until the law is enacted.

At the programme, Justice Krishna Debnath said India brought significant changes to their succession laws many years ago, ensuring Hindu women's equal property rights.

"In the Vedic period, Hindu women's rights in property and various fields were significant. It is quite regretting that there is no such law in Bangladesh so far," the High Court justice noted.

She said the government would have to take immediate steps to enact the law. Besides, the recent High Court order ensuring equal rights of Hindu women to their husbands' properties will have to be implemented.

Chairing the programme, Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) Executive Director Shaheen Anam said since women lag behind economically, violence against them in Bangladesh increases every day.

"Unless equal rights to property are ensured, Hindu women will not be able to contribute to the economy, and the oppression will not end too," she said.  

Citing the classical Hindu laws, speakers at the programme said daughters and wives of Hindu men are not equally eligible to inherit in many cases. The share they get in the property of father and husband is not equal to the family's male members. 

The national-level "Citizens' Initiative for Enacting Hindu Law" coalition prepared the draft to eliminate unequal treatment. The draft also ensures equal rights of the third gender to property.   

According to classical Hindu law, all daughters of a man are not equally eligible to inherit. Unmarried daughters and married daughters with sons can inherit, while childless widowed daughters or daughters having no son or with no possibility of having sons are excluded.

Even if she inherits, a Hindu woman has limited rights to her property in the form of life interest. Widows inheriting properties from their husband also inherit limited rights in terms of life interest perspective.

Among others, lawmaker Aroma Dutta, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council President Kajal Debnath, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad President Milon Kanti Dutta, and Dipali Chakrabarti were present at the programme.