The Kerala High Court has ruled that a Muslim woman obtaining divorce under ‘Khula’ is not entitled to maintenance. The court will have announced the verdict on the basis of existing law but it brings to light the anomalies in the Constitution whereby citizens, particularly women, are denied equal rights for one reason or another in this day and age. It may be recalled, for instance, that women domiciles of J&K could not inherit property if they married outside the state when Article 370 was in force.
In cases where people are denied their natural rights because of laws made by public representatives in assemblies and parliament, the courts should themselves direct that corrections be made, even while abiding by existing regulations. At the same time, human rights activists and organisations ought to take up these issues without regard for which community or interest group these may involve. The over-sensitivity displayed towards ‘minorities’, for instance, does not serve the interests of justice and represents only an inherent hypocrisy.
It must not be forgotten that the Constitution is a document given by the people unto themselves and not some revelation from above. It has already been amended a hundred and six times. There many provisions in it that were temporary but are taking on a permanent nature simply because of political timidity and intellectual laziness. In the light of Indians’ experience of democracy and the difficulties faced, there should be no hesitation in introducing changes that would help in achieving the desired goals. No individual’s rights should be diminished because of a majoritarian approach or inherent patriarchy.
It must not be forgotten that, essentially, the individual is the fundamental unit of the Constitution and recognition of groups, religions, castes, races, etc., is only for functional purposes, not diminishing in any way the citizen’s rights. This means that a person with the ability to be India’s Prime Minister should not be denied the opportunity because of his or her social, religious or economic status. Neither should anyone be given undue advantage on this basis. While this may seem obvious, the fact is that a mindset has developed in India that demanding ‘equality’ of this kind is politically incorrect, even condemnable. In an age when India is breaking the shackles of many stereotypes, impediments of this kind should also be removed if the full potential is to be achieved.
