A section of minority Hindus call it an attempt ‘to break our families and get us out of this country’

A writ petition seeking legal rights and dignified life for Hindu women in Bangladesh has angered a section of the minority Hindu community who see it as an attempt to break their families and drive them out of the country.

The writ petition was jointly filed in the High Court by three Hindu individuals and six rights campaigners on May 3

“We are not asking for much. We are asking for some basic human rights,” said ZI Khan Panna, chairperson of Ain O Salish Kendra, a rights organization, who is one of the petitioners.

The petition argued that Hindu women are governed by customary laws and treated as a burden in their society. However, the state, which came into being over five decades ago promising equal rights to all, regardless of religion, sex, race, caste, or place of birth, refuses to stand by them, it said.

Bangladesh, which was founded in 1971, has passed only one law — Hindu Marriage Registration Act 2012 — which critics say is flawed because it tacitly approves traditional Hindu marriage rites and makes marriage registration optional for Hindus.

Hindu women need to have rights to divorce and marriage registration, maintenance and adoption, guardianship of children, and equal inheritance in property, the petition said, and sought a modern law to govern all aspects of Hindu women’s lives.

“They want to break our families”

Panna said that Hindu women, in neighboring India, which is a Hindu-majority country, and around the world, are governed by modern laws ensuring their basic human rights, and hence it was necessary that Bangladesh takes necessary legal steps.

However, the Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance said it will strongly oppose the petition legally and through a public protest program.

“They don’t want our peace. They want to break our families and get us out of this country,” alleged Gobinda Chandra Pramanik, secretary general of the Alliance.

He saw a conspiracy against his religion “motivated by the business interest of the NGOs.”  Hindu women are more than happy in their lives, Pramanik told UCA News on May 28.

The petition presented a different picture with the Hindu women petitioners sharing their stories of abandonment by husbands and deprivation in society. Some were forced to stay in unhappy marriages.

“Dissolution or continuation of marriage is a fundamental right of freedom of choice and liberty,’ said the petition while pointing out that under the old Hindu laws in Bangladesh, a woman cannot get separated from her husband. Also, this requires a marriage to be registered in the first place.

“Hindu women are deprived and the situation needs to change”

Registration of marriage is compulsory for Muslims, but not for followers of other religions like Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists.

A colonial law, the Hindu Married Women’s Right to Separate Residence and Maintenance Act of 1946, offers limited maintenance for Hindu wives under certain circumstances, the petitioners said.

Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said the multi-faith organization was observing the situation closely.

“I personally believe Hindu women are deprived and the situation needs to change,” Dasgupta told UCA News on May 29.

The petitioners argued that the issue should not be looked at from a religious angle and the government is obliged to protect the civil and political rights of all women in Bangladesh.

“We have to look at it humanely. We must not forget that religion is for people,” said Panna.