Gendered Reflections on the Hindu Code Bill

Women were always portrayed as self-sacrificing and demure, prisoner of various orthodox traditions and devoted to their family. Her behaviour should be modelled on various religious texts, and she would be severely punished if any moral code were violated. However, at the socio-economic and political levels, she was rendered invisible. It was during the colonial phase of India’s historical trajectory that the gender question attained centre stage and serious efforts were undertaken to alleviate the situation of Indian women. This greater generalization of patriarchal controls and the pativrata ideals (Doniger & Smith, 1991, The laws of Manu, p. 198) throughout the caste hierarchy was a major factor in the increasing number of widows seen in the colonial period, and a gradually declining sex ratio, leaving India as one of the most patriarchal societies in the world when counting the number of ‘missing women’—an estimated 35-40 million women would have been alive were it not for the systematic discrimination (Dreze & Sen, 1995, India: Economic development and social opportunity, OUP Delhi). Nonetheless, the various debates on gender reforms either painted women as victims or heroines thereby denying them any agency.