Reflecting on Hindu women's inheritance rights

Illustration: TBS

Despite persistent demands by women's rights organisations, Bangladesh has yet to enact a uniform civil code that would set forth religion-neutral common laws on marriage, divorce and inheritance for all. 

For Muslim women and men, Muslim Personal Laws determine their rights related to marriage, family and inheritance. Whereas Bangladesh Hindu Law, apply to the Hindu community in the country.  

Hindu inheritance laws have not changed much since the time of Partition. In May 2023, the Bangladesh High Court asked the government to take steps to ensure Hindu women's rights to divorce and marriage registration, maintenance and adoption, guardianship and equal inheritance of property. 

There is no doubt that Hindu women in Bangladesh should have equal inheritance rights to property. Advocates for Hindu women's equal inheritance rights cite India as an example where Hindu women are enjoying equal inheritance rights. Any positive example of gender equality should undoubtedly be adopted in Bangladesh. 

However, it must be remembered that unlike Bangladesh, where Hindu women are a minority, Hindu women in India are not a minority. 

While thinking about Hindu women's inheritance rights, we need to take into account the wider context - Hindu women, especially those who are from lower and middle economic classes with less social capital, are at the risk of persecution, false cases and forced migration.

One of the biggest instruments to persecute and alienate the Hindu population from their home is land grabbing through countless local formal and informal means, which the legal mechanism cannot grasp through the technical lenses. 

Hindu women's ownership of property could be targeted by the vested group for further land grabs in the absence of robust protection for minority groups. This religious, social and gender-based vulnerability is inextricably linked to their family's land ownership.

Giving Hindu women equal inheritance rights without protecting the land rights of the Hindu community, in general, might increase the patriarchal protectionism for Hindu women within the community. This protectionism might increase the monitoring and surveillance of Hindu women's lifestyles and enforce informal social conditions on their choice and agency. 

Does that imply that Hindu women's equal property rights should not be considered? Certainly not. Ensuring Hindu women's right to property should be a gradual policy of the state.

Secondly, the government should be determined to introduce a uniform family code which will ensure Hindu women's equal status and citizenship in this country. 

To ensure the Hindu population's land rights in general, some groups recommended the enactment of a Minority Protection Act, the formation of a National Minority Commission, the enactment of an Elimination of Discrimination Act, having a national Minority Commission, the immediate implementation of the High Court's directives regarding the Vested Property Return Act, and setting up autonomous exclusive tribunals to deal with the return of previously seized properties of Hindu people to their rightful owners. 

These measures will not entirely stop land-grabbing. But, if effectively implemented, will ensure the Hindu community's security in terms of land rights to some extent. This will mitigate the risk of targeting Hindu women, and facilitate Hindu women's equal inheritance rights in the long run. 

Primarily, we need to understand the complexities of Hindu women's vulnerable social position within and outside the community, their reliance on male family members for protection to navigate social marginalisation, and their individual survival strategies to co-exist in a Muslim-majority country.

To respect the ruling of the High Court on Hindu women's rights in its true spirit, ensuring the land rights of the Hindu community is a first step. Then, Hindu women's equal inheritance rights will be easier to enact.

Dr Sharin Shajahan Naomi is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at KREA University in India.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.