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FROM SHREEDHANA TO SUCCESSION: NEGOTIATING WOMEN’S RIGHTS DURING THE REIGN OF THE DMK GOVERNMENT
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FROM SHREEDHANA TO
SUCCESSION: NEGOTIATING WOMEN’S RIGHTS DURING THE REIGN OF THE DMK GOVERNMENT
AUTHORED BY - SURIYA S
On 20th August 2005, the Lok Sabha passed a
bill and guaranteed Hindu women equal rights over agricultural land and joint
property in the Hindu Undivided Family. They could now avail equal inheritance
rights, which were denied to them earlier by the Hindu Succession Act 1956. It
followed Mitakshra school of thought that gives primacy of ownership of land to
patrilineal descendants. Claiming that Shreedhana as an act to ensure women’s financial
security, the archaic legislations denied women's claim over agricultural land through succession, in
order to prevent fragmentation of land and avoid complications in fixation of
ceilings and devolution of tenancy rights. After the series of drawbacks
in the formulation of a Hindu Code Bill in 1950s, the State Government of Tamil
Nadu considered bestowing these rights to women through amendments. In what was perceived as a
divergence between the National Party vs. Regional Parties, the stance of the
DMK Government in Tamil Nadu stands unique. With the Self-Respect movement as
the backdrop, the DMK Government had been trying to fulfill its agenda of
conferring equal rights to women in all spheres of life.
The 1920s saw a surge in
the role of the Dravidian Movement as an advocate of women's rights. The
turning point in the history of this cause transpired at the Chengalpet
Self-Respect Conference in 1929. It was presided over Periyar and keenly
focused on women's issues. The Conference communicated the ideal manifesto and
henceforth the agenda of “equal rights to property and inheritance for women as
for men” has found place in almost all the conferences conducted by the
Dravidian Movement till 1980s. The conference stands as an embodiment of the
many of the legislations enacted to ensure gender equality. With regard to the
rights of women to ancestral property, there are two historical breakthroughs
initiated by the DMK Government; first, by giving exception to Shreedhana in
the sphere of the Land Ceiling Process and second, by amending the Hindu
Succession Act of 1956 and approving equal rights for women to ancestral
property. The DMK Government recognized the need of the hour and championed the
cause and later on, became the forerunner to the introduction of several bills
and amendments to ensure right to own land, for married as well single women.
The Tamil Nadu Land
Reforms (Reduction of Ceiling on Land) Act, 1970, was passed as a law that
sought to reduce disparities in landholdings by reducing the land ceiling limit
from 30 standard acres to 15 standard acres (one acre is 0.4 hectare). During
the same year, the DMK Government, under the leadership of M.Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister, gave
exemption in providing 15 acres to daughters in form of Shreedhana i.e. ne can
give, their excess land to their son as partition and to daughters as
Shreedhana[1]. It cannot be called as progressive move ,but
the government utilized the moment to favour women.
The second legislation
was implemented, following the foot step of NTR. With the need to rely heavily
on the women voters to get a foothold in politics, the Andhra Pradesh
Government Chief Minister N.T.Rama Rao had backed up schemes that bestowed
mileage or equal rights to women. His government introduced the Equal Share in
Paternal Property Bill in March of 1983, which was passed a year after in the
then male dominated assembly was a revolutionary step in upholding women’s
rights to own property. However, this was not followed by the other states
during that phase.
The Tamilnadu CPI (M) MLA
Papa Umanath mentions that in the 1989 Assembly, on behalf of the All India
Democratic Women’s Association, she had requested the then Chief Minister, M.
G. Ramachandran to implement the Equal Share in Paternal Property Bill in March
of 1983 in Tamilnadu also. But, the request was not addressed during his double
tenure in the state which lasted for 10 years. Although M. G. Ramachandran was
a film persona, who upholds “motherhood” in his movies, it was only after the
matter was taken to the attention of M.Karunanidhi during his tenure as the Chief
Minister of the state, that the request gained found even a foothold[2].
The Hindu Succession Bill
that was effective from January 1, 1989. During that phase, the representation
made by 8 women's organizations meeting Thiru M. Karunanidhi to submit a
memorandum the asked for the modification of clause 29-A (4) which implied a blanket
exclusion of the rights of daughters married before the date of the amendment.
The deputation also requested to remove Section 23 which denied the right
of partition of a dwelling house occupied my male descendants. The deputation
consisted of representatives from Young Women’s Christian Association of
Madras, the Indian Council of Child Welfare (Tamil Nadu), the Feminist
Association of Social Action, the Guild of Service (Central) Seva Samajam, the
All-India Democratic Association (Tamil Nadu), the Monday Charity Club, the
Joint Action Council for Women (Tamil Nadu) and the National Federation of
Indian Women. They also met the then Law Minister S J. Sadiq Pasha and
submitted a copy of the memorandum[3]. ,
However, the changes requested by the women’s organizations were not included
in the legislation even when the bill was exactly the same as the one passed in
Andhra Pradesh. It would have been a more effective legislation if the DMK
Government, who was more progressive, had drafted the bill, instead of adopting
it as passed by the Andhra Pradesh Government. Taking this context, this
article demonstrates the nature of the debate concerning women’s rights to
succession of ancestral land especially in realizing the dream of a
Self-Respect Society.
Article Information
FROM SHREEDHANA TO SUCCESSION: NEGOTIATING WOMEN’S RIGHTS DURING THE REIGN OF THE DMK GOVERNMENT
Authors: SURIYA S
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2024/02/23
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
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