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Bhubaneswar, June 9: The call for proper implementation of existing laws rang loud at the 85th birth anniversary celebration of former Orissa chief minister Nandini Satpathy at Soochana Bhawan Thursday.
Both Flavia Agnes, women’s activist and lawyer, and Karuna Nundy, Supreme Court lawyer, pointed out the lacunae in implementation. Agnes made her observations based on the fact that she was dealing mostly with cases of Hindu women.
“The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, is about six decades old. But Hindus still follow their culture. Even today a husband decides whether his wife will work after marriage or not. Though the Hindu Marriage Act prohibits polygamy but several Hindu males have multiple partners. Polygamy cases are higher among Hindus compared with Muslims and Christians,” she said.
Agnes quipped that DMK chief M Karunanidhi and senior BJP leader Ram Jethmalani had more than one spouse and “have violated Hindu Marriage Act”.
She went on to discuss preference for males referring to a practice in Maharashtra of parents naming their daughters ‘Nakusa’ or ‘Nakoshi’.
“Nakusa means ‘unwanted’. By calling their daughters Nakusa, the parents hope their next child will be a boy. In rural areas people still follow this tradition.”
The activist said married women filing for divorce were fighting long legal battles for maintenance. “Every woman is not like actor Hema Malini, who won’t need maintenance,” she pointed out.
The statement drew a question from a member of the audience. Citing the rumor that actor Dharmendra had converted to Islam before marrying Hema Malini, he asked whether the actor was wrong in the case.
Agnes replied that converting to a different religion doesn’t absolve one of obligation to law.
She went on to stress that “existing laws if implemented robustly” will bring in a huge difference. “Passing new laws has become a fancy and it won’t help,” she said.
Nundy, in turn, said many women still faced stalking and JD(U) leaders such as Sharad Yadav have in the past asked, who among us had not followed girls.
“It is time for another independence movement. People must get justice faster and for this more fast track courts should be established and more judges — of different castes — must be recruited,” she added.
