113-511: The Hindu code bills were several laws passed in the 1950s that aimed to codify and reform Hindu personal law in India, abolishing religious law in favor of a common law code. The Indian National Congress government led by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru successfully implemented the reforms in 1950s. This process was started during the British rule of India . After the independence of India,
226-473: A "machine with strong brakes but no engine". He initially wanted to boycott the 1937 provincial elections , but agreed to lead the election campaign after receiving vague assurances about abstentionism from the party leaders who wished to contest. Nehru hoped to treat the election campaign as a mass outreach programme. During the campaign, Nehru was elected to another term as Congress president. The election manifesto, drafted largely by Nehru, attacked both
339-520: A "sheltered and uneventful one". He grew up in an atmosphere of privilege in wealthy homes, including a palatial estate called the Anand Bhavan . His father had him educated at home by private governesses and tutors. Influenced by the Irish theosophist Ferdinand T. Brooks' teaching, Nehru became interested in science and theosophy . A family friend, Annie Besant subsequently initiated him into
452-463: A Hindu and did away with the caste system. Significantly, it stipulated that the Hindu Code would apply to anyone who was not a Muslim, Parsi , Christian or Jew, and asserted that all Hindus would be governed under a uniform law. Part two of the bill concerned marriage; part three adoption; part four, guardianship ; part five the policy on joint-family property, and was controversial as it included
565-775: A comprehensive effort to devise a Bill that could be passed. Nehru split the Code Bill into four separate bills, including the Hindu Marriage Act , the Hindu Succession Act , the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act , and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act . These were met with significantly less opposition, and between the years of 1952 and 1956, each was effectively introduced in and passed by Parliament.; As Mansfield writes regarding
678-551: A conflict between democracy and fascism , "our sympathies must inevitably be on the side of democracy, ... I should like India to play its full part and throw all her resources into the struggle for a new order". After much deliberation, the Congress under Nehru informed the government that it would co-operate with the British but on certain conditions. First, Britain must give an assurance of full independence for India after
791-552: A difference of opinion to estrange us. We had differences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor. After spending a little more than a year in jail, Nehru was released, along with other Congress prisoners, three days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. When the Japanese carried their attack through Burma (now Myanmar ) to
904-602: A federal state along the lines suggested originally by the Government of India Act 1935. But as the drafting of the constitution progressed, and the idea of forming a republic took concrete shape, it was decided that all the princely states/covenanting states would merge with the Indian republic. In 1963, Nehru brought in legislation making it illegal to demand secession and introduced the Sixteenth Amendment to
1017-469: A ground for separate residence and maintenance. Later in 1941, the Committee reported that the time had come for a Hindu Code. Social progress and modernization could only be achieved by fundamental reforms, which recognized gender equality. The code was to be shaped with the aid of orthodox, conservative and reformist Hindus and by a comprehensive blending of the best of the current schools of Hindu law and
1130-593: A group of CWC members and Nehru threatened to resign and counter-resign their posts over disagreements. He became discontented with his role, especially after the death of his mother in January 1938. In February 1938, he did not stand for re-election as president, and was succeeded by Subash Chandra Bose . He left for Europe in June, stopping on the way at Alexandria , Egypt. While in Europe, Nehru became very concerned with
1243-723: A heart attack. Hailed as the "Architect of Modern India", his birthday is celebrated as Children's Day in India. Jawaharlal Nehru was born on 14 November 1889 in Allahabad in British India . His father, Motilal Nehru (1861–1931), a self-made wealthy barrister who was born into the Kashmiri Pandit community, served twice as president of the Indian National Congress , in 1919 and 1928. His mother, Swarup Rani Thussu (1868–1938), who came from
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#17327932301401356-557: A leading role in establishing Non-Aligned Movement , a group of nations that did not seek membership in the two main ideological blocs of the Cold War. Under Nehru's leadership, the Congress emerged as a catch-all party , dominating national and state-level politics and winning elections in 1951 , 1957 and 1962 . His premiership, spanning 16 years and 286 days—which is, to date, the longest in India—ended with his death in 1964 from
1469-566: A limited but significant shift in policy. According to Levy, that year, "two Hindu legislators, one a lawyer in the Central Legislative Assembly (the lower House), the other an eminent scholar of Sanskrit in the Central Council of States (the upper House), initiated resolutions seeking Government support for a Hindu Code of family law." In the next two decades many such fragmentary measures were enacted, modifying
1582-455: A resolution that called for the British to grant Dominion status to India within two years. If the British failed to meet the deadline, the Congress would call upon all Indians to fight for complete independence. Nehru was one of the leaders who objected to the time given to the British—he pressed Gandhi to demand immediate actions from the British. Gandhi brokered a further compromise by reducing
1695-564: A result of its administration by British judges who gave a lot of attention to Hindu religious-legal texts, while simultaneously invoking English procedure, jurisprudence, and English law to fill any gaps. Opinions often differ as to the extent of the discrepancy between the current law and the public's needs, but most agree that a substantial inconsistency exists. In 1921, the British Government had already gone so far as to welcome individual Members' efforts at piecemeal codification,
1808-400: A serious deviation from Hindu legal precedent. Feminists, such as Nivedita Menon , argue that since the personal laws cover matters of marriage, inheritance and guardianship of children, and since all personal laws discriminate against women, the tension within the laws is a contradiction between the rights of women as individual citizens and those of religious communities as collective units of
1921-476: A small minority of Hindus onto the majority who did not want them. The application of the Hindu Code Bills have been controversial in determining who is to be called a Hindu and who is entitled to be exempted from certain rules of Hindu law. They are also still contentious among many communities, including women's, nationalist and religious groups. At the time of their creation, many portrayed them as
2034-538: A spring had been suddenly released". He was arrested on 14 April 1930 while on a train from Allahabad to Raipur . Earlier, after addressing a huge meeting and leading a vast procession, he had ceremoniously manufactured some contraband salt. He was charged with breach of the salt law and sentenced to six months of imprisonment at Central Jail. He nominated Gandhi to succeed him as the Congress president during his absence in jail, but Gandhi declined, and Nehru nominated his father as his successor. With Nehru's arrest,
2147-477: A time the organisation was suppressed. Nehru, who had reluctantly heeded Gandhi's call for immediate independence, and had desired instead to support the Allied war effort during World War II , came out of a lengthy prison term to a much altered political landscape. The Muslim League, under Muhammad Ali Jinnah , had come to dominate Muslim politics in the interim. In the 1946 provincial elections , Congress won
2260-477: A uniform code because it contained no mechanism and provided no timetable for enforcement. However, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and others insisted on its inclusion, arguing that even if it was only symbolic, it was an important step towards national unity. Though Nehru himself likely would have favoured a uniform code, he knew that personal laws were linked with religious identity in India and therefore could not be easily abolished. Recognizing that what he wanted
2373-627: A visit to the Soviet Union, which sparked his interest in Marxism and socialism. Appealed by its ideas but repelled by some of its tactics, he never completely agreed with Karl Marx 's ideas. However, from that time on, the benchmark of his economic view remained Marxist, adapted, where necessary, to Indian circumstances. After returning to India in December 1927, Nehru was elected to another two-year term as Congress general secretary. Nehru
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#17327932301402486-583: A well-known Kashmiri Pandit family settled in Lahore , was Motilal's second wife, his first having died in childbirth . Jawaharlal was the eldest of three children. The elder of his two sisters, Vijaya Lakshmi , later became the first female president of the United Nations General Assembly . His youngest sister, Krishna Hutheesing , became a noted writer and authored several books on her brother. Nehru described his childhood as
2599-527: Is available to all Indian citizens, thus avoiding a direct confrontation with communities and communal politics. Hindu personal law Hindu personal laws are the laws of the Hindus as they applied during the colonial period ( British Raj ) of India beginning from the Anglo-Hindu Law to the post-independent Modern Hindu Law . The British found neither a uniform canon administering law for
2712-585: Is from here that the Hindu Personal Law had its beginning; and more appropriately so in 1772, when Warren Hastings appointed ten Brahmin pandits from Bengal to compile a digest of the Hindu scriptural law in four main civil matters—marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession. The Hindu Personal Laws underwent major reforms over a period of time, and created social and political controversies throughout India. The Hindu Personal Laws beginning with
2825-534: Is played again," Nehru wrote bitterly to Gandhi, "the background is the same, the various epithets are the same and the actors are the same and the results must be the same". On 23 October 1939, the Congress condemned the Viceroy's attitude and called upon the Congress ministries in the various provinces to resign in protest. Before this crucial announcement, Nehru urged Jinnah and the Muslim League to join
2938-609: The Ahmednagar Fort until 15 June 1945. During the period when all the Congress leaders were in jail, the Muslim League under Jinnah grew in power. In April 1943, the League captured the governments of Bengal and, a month later, that of the North-West Frontier Province . In none of these provinces had the League previously had a majority—only the arrest of Congress members made it possible. With all
3051-557: The Indian National Congress , rose to become the leader of a progressive faction during the 1920s, and eventually of the Congress in its totality, receiving the support of Mahatma Gandhi who was to designate Nehru as his political heir. As Congress president in 1929, Nehru called for complete independence from the British Raj . Nehru and the Congress dominated Indian politics during the 1930s. Nehru promoted
3164-694: The Inner Temple (one of the four Inns of Court to which English barristers must belong). During this time, he continued to study Fabian Society scholars including Beatrice Webb . He was called to the Bar in 1912. After returning to India in August 1912, Nehru enrolled as an advocate of the Allahabad High Court and tried to settle down as a barrister. But, unlike his father, he had very little interest in his profession and relished neither
3277-522: The Jallianwala Bagh killings . Motilal Nehru lost his belief in constitutional reform, and joined his son in accepting Gandhi's methods and paramount leadership of the Congress. In December 1919, Nehru's father was elected president of the Indian National Congress in what is regarded as "the first Gandhi Congress". During the non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhi in 1920, Nehru played an influential role in directing political activities in
3390-579: The Theosophical Society at age thirteen. However, his interest in theosophy did not prove to be enduring, and he left the society shortly after Brooks departed as his tutor. He wrote: "For nearly three years [Brooks] was with me and in many ways, he influenced me greatly". Nehru's theosophical interests induced him to study the Buddhist and Hindu scriptures . According to B. R. Nanda , these scriptures were Nehru's "first introduction to
3503-569: The divine right of kings . In May 1947, he declared that any princely state which refused to join the Constituent Assembly would be treated as an enemy state. Vallabhbhai Patel and V. P. Menon were more conciliatory towards the princes, and as the men charged with integrating the states, were successful in the task. During the drafting of the Indian constitution, many Indian leaders (except Nehru) were in favour of allowing each princely state or covenanting state to be independent as
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3616-1083: The thraldom of Europe." Later, in 1905, when he had begun his institutional schooling at Harrow , a leading school in England where he was nicknamed "Joe", G. M. Trevelyan 's Garibaldi books, which he had received as prizes for academic merit, influenced him greatly. He viewed Garibaldi as a revolutionary hero. He wrote: "Visions of similar deeds in India came before, of [my] gallant fight for [Indian] freedom and in my mind, India and Italy got strangely mixed together." Nehru went to Trinity College, Cambridge , in October 1907 and graduated with an honours degree in natural science in 1910. During this period, he studied politics, economics, history and literature with interest. The writings of Bernard Shaw , H. G. Wells , John Maynard Keynes , Bertrand Russell , Lowes Dickinson and Meredith Townsend moulded much of his political and economic thinking. After completing his degree in 1910, Nehru moved to London and studied law at
3729-482: The 1935 Act. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) under Gandhi passed a compromise resolution that authorised office acceptance, but reiterated that the fundamental objective of the Congress was the destruction of the 1935 Act. Nehru was more popular than before with the public, but he found himself isolated at the CWC meetings due to the anti-socialist orientation of its membership. Gandhi had to personally intervene when
3842-629: The 1950s, influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he is well-known as one of the Founders of the Non-aligned Movement and, concomitantly, for steering India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War . A coveted author, the books he wrote in prison, such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), have been read and deliberated upon around
3955-576: The Act and the Communal Award that went with it. He campaigned against the Muslim League , and argued that Muslims could not be regarded as a separate nation. The Congress won most general seats, and the Muslim League fared poorly with Muslim electorates. After the elections, Nehru drafted a resolution against taking office, but there were many Congress leaders who wanted to assume power under
4068-695: The British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence. At midnight on New Year's Eve 1929, Nehru hoisted the tricolour flag of India upon the banks of the Ravi in Lahore. A pledge of independence was read out, which included a readiness to withhold taxes. The massive gathering of the public attending the ceremony was asked if they agreed with it, and the majority of people were witnessed raising their hands in approval. 172 Indian members of central and provincial legislatures resigned in support of
4181-579: The British rule, for Muslims , Christians and Parsis , remain unreformed, forming an issue of debate among women, religious, and nationalist groups. While there may be a permanence of certain fundamental beliefs about the nature of life that is pervasive through Hinduism , Hindus as a group are highly non-homogenous. As Derrett says in his book on Hindu law , "We find the Hindus to be as diverse in race, psychology, habitat, employment and way of life as any collection of human beings that might be gathered from
4294-502: The Code Bill. While they had originally included aspects of Hinduism, by then, they had evolved into unique religions with their own customs, traditions, and rituals. There was also significant controversy over what was established to be Hindu personal law. Sanctioned under Hinduism were a variety of practices and perspectives. Therefore, the administration had to arbitrate between these variations, legitimating some and disregarding or marginalising others. The draft that Ambedkar submitted to
4407-450: The Congress radicals, who promoted Swaraj , Swadesh , and boycott. The two factions had split in 1907. After returning to India in 1912, Nehru attended the annual session of the Congress at Patna . The Congress was then considered a party of moderates and elites dominated by Gopal Krishna Gokhale , and Nehru was disconcerted by what he saw as "very much an English-knowing upper-class affair". However, Nehru agreed to raise funds for
4520-558: The Constituent Assembly was opposed by several sections of lawmakers. The motion to begin discussion on the Hindu Code Bill was debated for over fifty hours, and discussion was postponed for over a year. Realizing that he would have to make significant concessions to get the bill passed, Nehru suggested that the proposed law be split into several sections. He told the Constituent Assembly they would contend with only
4633-512: The Hindu community and create Hindu social unity.... The integration of Hindus into a homogeneous society could best be done by enacting an all-embracing code which encompasses within its fold every sect, caste, and religious denomination." The debates over Article 44 in the Constitution revealed that many believed varied laws and legal divisions helped create or at least were reflective of.social divisions. Nehru and his supporters insisted that
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4746-519: The Hindu community, which comprised 80% of the Indian population, first needed to be united before any actions were taken to unify the rest of India. Therefore, the codification of Hindu personal law became a symbolic beginning on the road to establishing the Indian national identity. Nehru also felt that because he was Hindu, it was his prerogative to codify a specifically Hindu law, as opposed to Muslim or Jewish law. Those in Parliament who supported
4859-489: The Hindu community. When it became clear that the vast majority of Hindus did not support the Bills, he insisted that though they were a minority, those who supported the Bills were modern and progressive and so held vital weight in the Hindu community, in importance if not in numbers. He also argued that because the bill's supporters were progressive, those who dissented would eventually change their position when confronted with
4972-496: The Hindu law of marriage, inheritance, and joint family property. As a whole, the enacted bills carried further a modest trend toward increasing property alienability , reducing the legal importance of Varna (class), sanctioning religious heterodoxy and conversion and, most significantly, improving the position of women. However, it was the passing of the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act (Deshmukh Act) in 1937, which had given
5085-416: The Indian independence movement. Gandhi stepped back into a more spiritual role. Although Gandhi did not explicitly designate Nehru as his political heir until 1942, as early as the mid-1930s, the country saw Nehru as the natural successor to Gandhi. In 1929, Nehru had already drafted the "Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy" resolution that set the government agenda for an independent India. The resolution
5198-412: The Lahore session in 1929, Nehru had declared that, "The Indian States cannot live apart from the rest of India and their rulers must, unless they accept their inevitable limitations, go the way of others like them." In July 1946, Nehru pointedly observed that no princely state could prevail militarily against the army of independent India. In January 1947, he said that independent India would not accept
5311-520: The Mitākṣarā concept of a joint family would crumble, as would the foundation of Hindu society. They also insisted that if daughters and wives were given inheritance, more conflicts would arise within families. Their main argument, however, was that the bills lacked public support. Therefore, they were a direct contradiction to the policy of noninterference and would mean the government was meddling in personal law. They implied that these were bills propagated by
5424-552: The Muslim areas after the war to see whether they wanted to separate from the rest of India. Essentially, it was an acceptance of the principle of Pakistan—but not in so many words. Jinnah demanded that the exact words be used. Gandhi refused and the talks broke down. Jinnah, however, had greatly strengthened his own position and that of the League. The most influential member of the Congress had been seen to negotiate with him on equal terms. Nehru and his colleagues were released prior to
5537-482: The Muslim-dominated provinces except Punjab under Jinnah's control, the concept of a separate Muslim State was turning into a reality. However, by 1944, Jinnah's power and prestige were waning. A general sympathy towards the jailed Congress leaders was developing among Muslims, and much of the blame for the disastrous Bengal famine of 1943 –44 during which two million died had been laid on the shoulders of
5650-620: The Nehru administration saw the reform of the Hindu code as necessary for modernising the Hindu society as well as to forge national unity. After facing initial resistance, Nehru campaigned for it during the general election in 1952, and reintroduced the bills which were passed as the Hindu Marriage Act , Hindu Succession Act , Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act , and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act during 1955–1958. These laws apply to all "Hindus", defined expansively to include Jains , Buddhists and Sikhs . Other personal laws inherited from
5763-595: The United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh ) as provincial Congress secretary. He was imprisoned on 6 December 1921 on charges of anti-governmental activities, marking the first of eight periods of detention between 1921-1945, lasting over nine years in all. By 1923, Nehru had emerged as a national figure of some stature. He was elected general secretary of the Congress, president of the United Provinces Congress, and mayor of Allahabad all in
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#17327932301405876-523: The ancient texts. The 1941 Report was accompanied by two draft bills, each of which was laid before a select committee of both houses of the legislature. Much publicity was given to the project, and as a result of the committees' reports, the Hindu Law Committee itself was revived in 1944 and under its chairman, B. N. Rau, prepared a Draft Code dealing with Succession, Maintenance, Marriage and Divorce, Minority and Guardianship and Adoption. It
5989-406: The arrival of the British 1946 Cabinet Mission to India to propose plans for the transfer of power. The agreed plan in 1946 led to elections to the provincial assemblies. In turn, the members of the assemblies elected members of the Constituent Assembly. Congress won the majority of seats in the assembly and headed the interim government , with Nehru as the prime minister. The Muslim League joined
6102-497: The authority of which was denied by various elements in India's national life". In October 1940, Gandhi and Nehru, abandoning their original stand of supporting Britain, decided to launch a limited civil disobedience campaign in which leading advocates of Indian independence were selected to participate one by one. Nehru was arrested and sentenced to four years imprisonment. On 15 January 1941, Gandhi stated: Some say Jawaharlal and I were estranged. It will require much more than
6215-530: The bill, with plain arguments on the merits. The Ministry of Law revised the first draft in 1948 and made some small alterations to it, making it more suitable for discussion in the Constituent Assembly, where it was finally introduced. It was referred to a select committee under the chairmanship of law minister B. R. Ambedkar , and the committee made a number of important changes in the Bill. This edition had eight sections: part one delineated who would be considered
6328-509: The bills also saw them as a vital move towards the modernization of Hindu society, as they would clearly delineate secular laws from religious law. Many also heralded the bills' opportunity to implement greater rights for women , which were established to be necessary, for India's development. During the debates over the Hindu code bills in the General Assembly, large segments of the Hindu population protested and held rallies against
6441-418: The bills were men, largely from Nehru's own Congress party. They believed that the code bills would institute reform that strayed too far from the classical Hindu social order and were too radical. They argued that practices such as divorce were absolutely not condoned by Hinduism. "To a Hindu the marriage is sacramental and as such indissoluble." They also felt that should equal property rights be given to women,
6554-405: The bills. Numerous organizations were formed to lobby for the defeat of the bills and massive amounts of literature were distributed throughout the Hindu population. In the face of such vocal opposition, Nehru had to justify the passage of the Hindu code bills. Earlier, he had stated that in accordance with the policy of noninterference, he was undertaking codification in compliance with a demand from
6667-513: The borders of India in the spring of 1942, the British government, faced with this new military threat, decided to make some overtures to India, as Nehru had originally desired. Prime Minister Winston Churchill dispatched Sir Stafford Cripps , a member of the War Cabinet who was known to be politically close to Nehru and knew Jinnah, with proposals for a settlement of the constitutional problem. As soon as he arrived, he discovered that India
6780-473: The categorization of who would be considered Hindu. The Code established "Hindu" to be a negative category that would include all those who did not identify as a Muslim, Jew, Christian, or Zoroastrian. Such a broad designation ignored the tremendous diversity of region, tradition and custom in Hinduism. Those who practised Sikhism , Jainism , and Buddhism were considered to be Hindus under the jurisdiction of
6893-466: The civil disobedience acquired a new tempo, and arrests, firing on crowds and lathi charges grew to be ordinary occurrences. The salt satyagraha ("pressure for reform through passive resistance") succeeded in attracting world attention. Indian, British, and world opinion increasingly recognised the legitimacy of the claims by the Congress party for independence. Nehru considered the salt satyagraha
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#17327932301407006-417: The creation of the Anglo-Hindu Law lead to widespread changes, controversies and civil suits in Hindu society across all strata and in monastic orders. Between 1860 and 1940, the issue of succession in the Anglo-Hindu Law led to legal issues of ownership and distribution of property in ascetic-run institutions. The early twentieth century witnessed ascetic orders seeking to 'purify' their genealogies through
7119-464: The critics' demands, including the reinstitution of the Mitākṣarā joint family system, an amendment to allow for brothers to buy out daughters' share of the inheritance, and a stipulation allowing divorce only after three years of marriage. However, after the bills were defeated again in the assembly, Ambedkar resigned. In a letter that he released to the press, he held that his decision was largely based on
7232-404: The daughter's simultaneous succession with the son to the father's estate, the abolition of the barrier to intercaste marriages, the assimilation of civil and sacramental marriages, and the introduction of divorce. It was the intention of the government that this first draft should become law on 1 January 1948, but the whole project was temporarily suspended when independence led to the priorities of
7345-486: The democracy. In her 1998 article "State, Gender, Community: Citizenship in Contemporary India", she calls for more support and initiation for reform within all personal laws and more legislation in areas that are not covered by secular or personal laws, such as domestic violence . She also argues for a gender-equal framework of rights that covers the "public" domain of work (maternity benefits, equal wages) and
7458-530: The diverse communities of India nor a Pope or a Shankaracharya whose law or writ applied throughout the country. Due to discrepancies in opinions of pandits on the same matter, the East India Company began training pandits for its own legal service leading to the setting up of a Sanskrit College in Banaras and Calcutta , to help them arrive at a definitive idea of the Indian legal system. It
7571-461: The elections but the League won most seats reserved for Muslims, which the British interpreted to be a clear mandate for Pakistan in some form. Nehru became the interim prime minister of India in September 1946, with the League joining his government with some hesitancy in October 1946. Upon India's independence on 15 August 1947, Nehru gave a critically acclaimed speech, " Tryst with Destiny "; he
7684-476: The ends of the earth." The Dharmaśāstra —the textual authority on matters of marriage, adoption, the joint family, minorities, succession, religious endowments, and caste privileges—has often been seen as the private law of the Hindus. However, whatever is known and interpreted about this Hindu law is a jumble of rules, and often inconsistent and incompatible with one another, that are lacking in uniformity. Hindu law's content and structure has ultimately survived as
7797-462: The first 55 clauses concerning marriage and divorce, while the rest would be considered by the Parliament of India after the first general election. However, the compromise was largely ineffective in convincing conservatives to support the bill. When only 3 of the 55 clauses passed after an additional week of debating, Nehru had Ambedkar's committee distribute a new draft that complied with many of
7910-529: The fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities for growth. We believe also that if any government deprives a people of these rights and oppresses them the people have a further right to alter it or abolish it. The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually. We believe, therefore, that India must sever
8023-578: The government later with Liaquat Ali Khan as the Finance member. Nehru served as prime minister for 16 years, initially as the interim prime minister, then from 1947 as the prime minister of the Dominion of India and then from 1950 as the prime minister of the Republic of India. Jawaharlal Nehru showed his concern for the princely states of South Asia since 1920s. During his Presidential Address at
8136-568: The government soon moved to detain him again. On 22 December 1933, the Home Secretary sent a memo to all local governments in India: The Government of India regard him [Nehru] as by far the most dangerous element at large in India, and their view is that the time has come, in accordance with their general policy of taking steps at an early stage to prevent attempts to work up mass agitation, to take action against him. He
8249-410: The high-water mark of his association with Gandhi, and felt its lasting importance was in changing the attitudes of Indians: Of course these movements exercised tremendous pressure on the British Government and shook the government machinery. But the real importance, to my mind, lay in the effect they had on our own people, and especially the village masses. ... Non-cooperation dragged them out of
8362-522: The idea of the secular nation-state in the 1937 provincial elections , allowing the Congress to sweep the elections, and to form governments in several provinces. In September 1939, the Congress ministries resigned to protest Viceroy Lord Linlithgow 's decision to join the war without consulting them. After the All India Congress Committee 's Quit India Resolution of 8 August 1942, senior Congress leaders were imprisoned and for
8475-428: The latest stand taken by the Muslim League leader in Lahore". Linlithgow made Nehru an offer on 8 October 1940, which stated that Dominion status for India was the objective of the British government. However, it referred neither to a date nor a method to accomplish this. Only Jinnah received something more precise: "The British would not contemplate transferring power to a Congress-dominated national government,
8588-471: The leadership of Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak to voice a demand for Swaraj or self-governance . Besant and Tilak formed separate Home Rule Leagues . Nehru joined both groups, but he worked primarily with Besant, with whom he had a very close relationship since childhood. He became the secretary of Besant's Home Rule League. In June 1917, the British government arrested Besant. The Congress and other organisations threatened to launch protests if she
8701-507: The legislature to be consumed with the task of creating the new regime. By 1943, a significant opposition to the code had begun to develop inside and outside the Legislature. In the 1943–44 legislative debate, opponents and supporters alike accepted as fact the view that the majority of the legal profession continued to support the code. Opponents tried to undercut the perceived support by arguing that lawyers had become westernized or that
8814-485: The medium of property disputes fought in colonial courts, which also led to the removal of women and children from certain ascetic orders with varying degrees of success. Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister of India (1947–1964) Influenced [REDACTED] Jawaharlal Nehru ( / ˈ n eɪ r u / NAY -roo or / ˈ n ɛ r u / NERR -oo , Hindi: [dʒəˌʋaːɦəɾˈlaːl ˈneːɦɾuː] ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964)
8927-475: The merits of the bill were for the people to decide, not lawyers. Nehru had already been forced to retreat from an original position of passing the bill. However, his position greatly improved in 1951 when he succeeded Purushottam Das Tandon as Congress president . He chose not to test his combined powers as prime minister and party president, in regard to the bill at that time and allowed it to lapse. He, however, promised fellow supporters that he would campaign on
9040-446: The mire and gave them self-respect and self-reliance. ... They acted courageously and did not submit so easily to unjust oppression; their outlook widened and they began to think a little in terms of India as a whole. ... It was a remarkable transformation and the Congress, under Gandhi's leadership, must have the credit for it. On 11 October 1930, Nehru's detention ended, but he was back in jail in less than ten days for resuming
9153-411: The need for personal laws in India — "The spectacle of large political entities in different parts of the world collapsing and giving place to smaller entities based on ethnicity, religion or language or combinations of these factors, rather than strengthening the idea that a powerfully centralised, culturally homogenous nation is essential for order and prosperity, may have confirmed for some the view that
9266-648: The nontraditional allocation of property to women. Part six concerned policies regarding women's property, and parts seven and eight established policies on succession and maintenance. By allowing for divorce, Ambedkar's version of the Hindu Code conflicted with traditional Hindu personal law, which did not sanction divorce (although it was practiced). It also "established one joint family system of property ownership for all Hindus" by doing away with regional rules. Finally, it allotted portions of inheritance to daughters, while giving widows complete property rights where they had previously been restricted. Conflicts also arose from
9379-545: The ongoing Indian civil rights movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. In 1916, Nehru married Kamala Kaul , who came from a Kashmiri Pandit family settled in Delhi. Their only daughter, Indira , was born in 1917. Kamala gave birth to a son in 1924, but the baby lived for only a few days. The influence of moderates declined after Gokhale died in 1915. Several nationalist leaders banded together in 1916 under
9492-418: The polarity of the state and community, rendering the gender-based axis upon which it turns, invisible. A compromise was reached in the inclusion in the first draft of an article that compelled the state "to endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." The clause, a goal, not a right, became Article 44 in the Constitution. It was widely criticised by proponents of
9605-605: The possibility of another world war. At that time, he emphasised that, in the event of war, India's place was alongside the democracies, though he insisted India could only fight in support of Great Britain and France as a free country. After returning to India in December 1938, Nehru accepted Bose's offer to head the Planning Commission . In February 1939, he became president of the All India States Peoples Conference (AISPC), which
9718-531: The practice of law nor the company of lawyers: "Decidedly the atmosphere was not intellectually stimulating and a sense of the utter insipidity of life grew upon me." His involvement in nationalist politics was to gradually replace his legal practice. Nehru's father, Motilal, was an important moderate leader of the Indian National Congress. The moderates believed British rule was modernising, and sought reform and more participation in government in cooperation with British authorities. However, Nehru sympathised with
9831-409: The presidency of the banned Congress. On 26 January 1931, Nehru and other prisoners were released early by Lord Irwin , who was negotiating with Gandhi. His father died on 6 February 1931. Nehru was back in jail on 26 December 1931 after violating court orders not to leave Allahabad while leading a "no-rent" campaign to alleviate peasant distress. On 30 August 1933, Nehru was released from prison, but
9944-441: The pressing task for India is not to increase central power and cultural homogeneity, but to find an alternative to the ' nation-state ' model, an alternative that will sustain unity through some form of 'pluralism'." Nehru's primary purpose in instituting the Hindu code bills was to unify the Hindu community, so it made sense to define Hindu in the broadest possible sense. By legal equity, Nehru intended to "erase distinctions within
10057-563: The protest, but Jinnah declined. In March 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah passed what came to be known as the Pakistan Resolution , declaring that, "Muslims are a nation according to any definition of a nation, and they must have their homelands , their territory and their State." This state was to be known as Pakistan, meaning 'Land of the Pure'. Nehru angrily declared that "all the old problems ... pale into insignificance before
10170-569: The province's Muslim League government. The numbers at Jinnah's meetings, once counted in thousands, soon numbered only a few hundred. In despair, Jinnah left the political scene for a stay in Kashmir. His prestige was restored unwittingly by Gandhi, who had been released from prison on medical grounds in May 1944 and had met Jinnah in Bombay in September. There, he offered the Muslim leader a plebiscite in
10283-442: The realities of modernity. Proponents included both men and women within and outside of Parliament belonging to various political parties. Significant support for the bills came from Congress' women's wing (All-India Women's Conference) and several other women's organizations. Supporters largely sought to convince the public that the bills did not stray far from classical Hindu personal law. Essentially, those in Parliament who opposed
10396-627: The religious and cultural heritage of [India]....[They] provided Nehru the initial impulse for [his] long intellectual quest which culminated...in The Discovery of India ." Nehru became an ardent nationalist during his youth. The Second Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War intensified his feelings. Of the latter he wrote, "[The] Japanese victories [had] stirred up my enthusiasm. ... Nationalistic ideas filled my mind. ... I mused of Indian freedom and Asiatic freedom from
10509-407: The resolution and in accordance with Indian public sentiment. The Congress asked the people of India to observe 26 January as Independence Day. Congress volunteers, nationalists, and the public hoisted the flag of India publicly across India. Plans for mass civil disobedience were also underway. After the Lahore session of the Congress in 1929, Nehru gradually emerged as the paramount leader of
10622-480: The same year. The non-cooperation movement was halted in 1923 as a result of the Chauri Chaura incident . Nehru's two-year term as general secretary ended after 1925, and earlier that year he resigned as mayor of Allahabad due to his disillusionment with municipal politics. In 1926, Nehru left for Europe with his wife and daughter to seek treatment for his wife's tuberculosis diagnosis. While in Europe, he
10735-530: The time given from two years to one. The British rejected demands for Dominion status in 1929. Nehru assumed the presidency of the Congress party during the Lahore session on 29 December 1929 and introduced a successful resolution calling for complete independence . Nehru drafted the Indian Declaration of Independence, which stated: We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy
10848-446: The treatment that had been accorded to the Hindu Code Bill as well as the administration's inability to get it passed. In 1951–52, India held its first general elections . Nehru made the Hindu Code Bill one of his top campaign initiatives, declaring that should the Indian National Congress win, he would succeed in getting it passed through parliament. Congress won sweeping victories, with Nehru reinstated as prime minister, and he began
10961-601: The two later reconciled. In 1942, Gandhi called on the British to leave India; Nehru, though reluctant to embarrass the allied war effort, had no alternative but to join Gandhi. Following the Quit India resolution passed by the Congress party in Bombay on 8 August 1942, the entire Congress working committee, including Gandhi and Nehru, was arrested and imprisoned. Most of the Congress working committee including Nehru, Abdul Kalam Azad, and Sardar Patel were incarcerated at
11074-505: The war and allow the election of a constituent assembly to frame a new constitution; second, although the Indian armed forces would remain under the British Commander-in-chief , Indians must be included immediately in the central government and given a chance to share power and responsibility. When Nehru presented Lord Linlithgow with these demands, he chose to reject them. A deadlock was reached: "The same old game
11187-403: The widow a son's share in property that was one of the most substantial steps towards the Hindu Code Bill. In December 1946, the Constituent Assembly convened to devise a Constitution for the soon-to-be-independent India. Some argued that India's various personal laws were too divisive and that a uniform civil code should be instituted in their place. And once the notion of a uniform civil code
11300-490: The world. The son of Motilal Nehru , a prominent lawyer and Indian nationalist , Jawaharlal Nehru was educated in England—at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge , and trained in the law at the Inner Temple . He became a barrister , returned to India, enrolled at the Allahabad High Court and soon began to take an interest in national politics, which eventually became a full-time occupation. He joined
11413-544: Was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist , secular humanist , social democrat , author and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was second only to Mahatma Gandhi in leading the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence from Britain in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister for 16 years. Nehru championed parliamentary democracy , secularism , science and technology during
11526-547: Was arrested in Allahabad on 12 January 1934. In August 1934, he was briefly released for eleven days to attend to his wife's ailing health. In October, he was allowed to see her again, but he turned down an early release conditional on withdrawing from politics for the duration of his sentence. In September 1935, Nehru's wife, Kamala, became terminally ill while receiving medical treatment in Badenweiler , Germany. Nehru
11639-580: Was invited to attend the Congress of oppressed nationalities in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting was called to coordinate and plan a common struggle against imperialism . Nehru represented India and was elected to the Executive Council of the League against Imperialism which was born at this meeting. He made a statement in favour of complete independence for India. Nehru's stay in Europe included
11752-483: Was leading popular agitations in princely states. Nehru was not directly involved in the events that split the Congress during the Bose presidency, and unsuccessfully attempted to mediate. When World War II began, Viceroy Linlithgow unilaterally declared India a belligerent on the side of Britain, without consulting the elected Indian representatives. Nehru hurried back from a visit to China, announcing that, in
11865-498: Was more deeply divided than he had imagined. Nehru, eager for a compromise, was hopeful; Gandhi was not. Jinnah had continued opposing the Congress: "Pakistan is our only demand, and by God, we will have it," he declared in the Muslim League newspaper Dawn . Cripps' mission failed as Gandhi would accept nothing less than independence. Relations between Nehru and Gandhi cooled over the latter's refusal to co-operate with Cripps, but
11978-604: Was not a political reality, he settled for an unenforceable clause. In 1941, the colonial government had appointed a four-member Hindu Law Committee, known as the Rau Committee after its chairman B. N. Rau . The committee was to resolve doubts about the Deshmukh Act's construction, ensure that its introduction of new female heirs was not made at the expense of the decedent's own daughter and consider bills introduced to abolish women's limited estate and to make polygamy
12091-497: Was not freed. The government was forced to release Besant in September, but the protestors successfully negotiated further concessions . Nehru met Gandhi for the first time in 1916 at the Lucknow session of the Congress, but he had been then dissuaded by his father from being drawn into Gandhi's satyagraha politics. 1919 marked the beginning of a strong wave of nationalist activity and subsequent government repression that included
12204-606: Was one of the first leaders to demand that the Congress Party should resolve to make a complete and explicit break from all ties with the British Empire. The Madras session of Congress in 1927, approved his resolution for independence despite Gandhi's criticism. At that time, he formed the Independence for India League, a pressure group within the Congress. In 1928, Gandhi agreed to Nehru's demands and proposed
12317-423: Was put forward, it soon became accepted as an important part of the effort to construct an Indian national identity, over the separate identities of caste, religion and ethnicity. Some resistance to the code was on the grounds that its imposition would destroy the cultural identity of minorities, the protection of which is crucial to democracy. Certain feminists thus argue that the uniform civil code debate balances on
12430-464: Was ratified in 1931 at the Karachi session chaired by Vallabhbhai Patel . Nehru and most of the Congress leaders were ambivalent initially about Gandhi's plan to begin civil disobedience with a satyagraha aimed at the British salt tax . After the protest had gathered steam, they realised the power of salt as a symbol. Nehru remarked about the unprecedented popular response, "It seemed as though
12543-574: Was released from prison early on compassionate grounds, and moved his wife to a sanatorium in Lausanne , Switzerland, where she died on 28 February 1936. While in Europe, Nehru learned that he was elected as Congress president for the coming year. He returned to India in March 1936 and led the Congress response to the Government of India Act 1935 . He condemned the Act as a "new charter of bondage" and
12656-648: Was sworn in as the Dominion of India 's prime minister and raised the Indian flag at the Red Fort in Delhi. On 26 January 1950, when India became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations , Nehru became the Republic of India 's first prime minister. He embarked on an ambitious program of economic, social, and political reforms. Nehru promoted a pluralistic multi-party democracy. In foreign affairs, he played
12769-406: Was that Code that was widely circulated and discussed and given the name "Hindu Code Bill". After publication in twelve regional languages and a wide publicity campaign, the Rau Committee toured the country and examined witnesses. The result 1947 report of the committee included and went far beyond the 1941 proposals, recommending the abolition of the joint-family property system, the introduction of
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