In Bangladeshi Hindu women can not divorce because the legal provisions do not exist.
In the case of Tarulata Rani highlights the plight of Hindu women in
Bangladesh, who until now do not have any rights of inheritance, nor
can they divorce and claim maintenance from their ex-husbands. A new
law approved by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will introduce official
marriage registration for Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a move
designed to protect the rights of women like Rani.
"Is it a crime to be born a Hindu girl?" Rani, 22, who was married two
years ago.
"I can't inherit any property. I can't divorce my husband and remarry
even though he left me for another woman and beat me all the time."
Last month Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved a new law that will
introduce official marriage registration for Hindus in Muslim-majority
Bangladesh in a move designed to protect the rights of women like
Rani.
The legislation, expected to be passed shortly in parliament, has been
welcomed by civil rights activists and many Hindu women.
But critics say it is a token gesture that does not go far enough amid
opposition from the religion's hardliners, who see it as unnecessary
political interference in their cultural traditions.
Bangladesh has a secular legal system except in matters related to
inheritance, marriage and divorce, when Muslims follow sharia law and
Hindus follow laws based on ancient UN-codified customs.
Under the new law, Hindus -- who make up 10 percent of the country's
152 million population -- will be able to register their marriages
with local councils or courts for the first time.
"At the moment, when a Hindu man walks out on a marriage, the wife
can't sue him for alimony or maintenance because lack of marriage
papers make it almost impossible to prove that they were married at
all," said lawyer Nina Goswami.
"Tens of thousands of Hindu men keep multiple wives, knowing that they
can't be prosecuted," added Goswami, who is director of the respected
rights group, Ain O Salish Kendra.
Goswami, herself a Hindu, has seen how lack of rights have driven many
Hindu women to "unwanted jobs and extreme poverty" after they were
dumped by their husbands.
However she believes that the government's new laws are only a token
gesture to placate mainstream Hindu women without angering Hindu men,
who generally vote for the Awami League, the current ruling party.
"Unfortunately, these women don't exist in the government's eyes and
ears," she said. "To our politicians, the Hindu community is a big
vote-bank, made up of only males."
The government rejects such criticism and says that it is hamstrung by
hardline Hindu activists who oppose changes to the law.
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told, the new legislation would cut down
on polygamy, which is increasing among the Hindu males, and ensure
maintenance rights for women whose partners have left them.
"We couldn't reform Hindu personal laws further because of opposition
by Hindu groups including some of their most educated people.
Hardliners did not even want registration of their marriages," Ahmed
said.
Radical Hindu activists say they reject any reforms that go against
their scriptures or traditions, saying divorce could threaten the
basic foundation of the Hindu family.
"We don't mind optional registration because Hindu couples sometimes
need the marriage certificate when they travel," said Hiren Biswas,
the president of the Samaj Sangskar Parishad group.
"But we won't accept mandatory registration, or divorce and
inheritance rights to women because our scriptures and customs don't
allow them," he told AFP, alleging the new law was a conspiracy
hatched by foreign-funded charities.
Muslim women in Bangladesh can divorce and seek damages for break-ups
or sue their partners thanks to decades of legal activism by women and
rights groups.
But Bangladeshi Hindus, who have suffered widespread persecution and
religious discrimination since partition of the subcontinent in 1947,
were bypassed by the new rights.
Despite the new laws, Hindu women face a long struggle as their
community is split on whether women's issues are the best battlefield
to fight for wider equality.
For leading reformers like Supreme Court lawyer Subrata Chowdhury,
himself a Hindu, the battle must now move on.
"Persecution by Muslims, forcible conversion, eviction from land and
stealing of our properties are more important now.
