‘Joint-family and indissoluble marriage have been the basis of Hindu society. Laws that alter this basis will ultimately lead to the disintegration of society. Jana Sangh will, therefore, repeal the Hindu Marriage and Hindu Succession Acts.’

Thus spake the Jana Sangh manifesto of 1957. The BJP’s precursor accompanied this opposition to divorce and its championing of joint families by an attack on the rights of women.

In his draft legislations in the early 1950s, Dr B.R. Ambedkar had proposed modest changes to Hindu personal law, especially on the question of inheritance for women. He identified the two dominant forms of traditional inheritance law and modified one of them to make inheritance fairer for women. In its 1951 manifesto, the Jana Sangh opposed this proposal in the Hindu Code Bill, saying social reform should not come from above but from society. In 1957, as quoted above, it said such changes were not acceptable unless rooted in ancient culture. ‘Riotous individualism’ would ensue as a result, it feared.

One part of its opposition to divorce was the idea of eternal marriage. However, the material element was to not let divorced women and widowed daughters-in-law inherit property. This position changed over time, but there is no explanation as to why the party changed its position on its manifestos. As divorce became less rare in Indian society and as urban, upper caste,........

© National Herald