|
THE NATION:
GOVERNMENT
Veiled
Approach
Jaitley
resorts to piecemeal changes in the Christian personal law to weather
opposition from the minority community
By
Lakshmi Iyer
When
courts strike down a law, lawmakers normally get down to making amends.
But with the archaic Indian Divorces Act (IDA), 1869-applicable to Christian
marriages-the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Government recently
found that even discharging its responsibilities as a lawmaker could be
a tricky business.
 In
a landmark judgement in 1995, the Kerala High Court struck down as discriminatory
Section 10 of the IDA-under which grounds for divorce for women were "adultery
coupled with cruelty"-and Section 17-under which divorce decrees
required confirmation by the high court. In successive years, other high
courts followed suit.
In the middle
of November, the Union Cabinet decided that the impugned sections of the
IDA would be amended in the winter session of Parliament. The decision
raised the hackles of ecclesial and Christian women's groups-the Catholic
Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), the National Council of Churches
of India (NCCI) and the Joint Women's Programme. "We were not consulted.
We do not know what the IDA amendment bill looks like. There is an air
of secrecy," they griped in a joint statement.
This was
not the first time that the Christian groups were attempting to block
the Government's efforts to meet its legislative obligations as well as
requirements of the community. Early this year, when the Government came
up with the Christian Marriage Bill, 2000 to replace the Indian Christian
Marriages Act (ICMA), 1872 and the IDA, the ecclesial groups picked holes
in the bill for defining Christian marriage as one between two members
of the same community. They wanted to retain the ICMA definition of such
a marriage as one where either bride or groom was Christian. The Government
refused to accept the churches' pleas and the bill was quietly buried.
But now,
after six months, the Law Ministry under a new minister, Arun Jaitley,
is giving the matter a fresh look. It decided not to bother itself with
evolving a consensus within the community and instead opted to amend Section
10 to make adultery common ground for both men and women, and Section
17 to make divorce decrees of family courts final as desired by the courts.
The Christian member in the National Commission for Minorities was duly
informed.
This time
round when the ecclesial groups opposed even the non-controversial amendments,
the Government did not go on the back foot. "We can't wait till the
cows come home. We have certain constitutional responsibilities and have
to perform certain parliamentary functions," says Jaitley, who will
pilot the IDA amendment bill in Lok Sabha next week.
 The
minister rejects charges that the community was not consulted. "Ram
(Jethmalani) had called Christian leaders for consultation and they agreed
to these provisions. I cannot show them cabinet papers. If I did, I'll
have to show cabinet papers to the RSS and VHP also," he counters.
The minister's tough talk appeared to have chastened the CBCI functionaries
who met him last week. The clergy seemed to realise it had stretched things
too far. "We are happy with the decision. The church always wanted
these amendments. We supported these things in the Christian Marriage
Bill," says CBCI Deputy Secretary-General Father Donald D'Souza.
More than
Jaitley's plainspeak, what forced the clergy to soften was the pressure
being exerted by a ginger group of women MPs. The women did not want to
lose another opportunity to secure gender-just laws. "We want the
debate on matrimonial matters to move away from power struggle between
Church and State," says Samata Party MP Beatrix D'Souza. The Anglo
Indian Lok Sabha member followed this up by convening an all-party meet
of Christian women MPs. The Congress and the Left responded. They endorsed
eight extra amendments that Mumbai-based legal advocacy activist Flavia
Agnes had mooted. She was supported by Virgina Saldana, head of the CBCI's
Women Commission. Agnes also met Jaitley and the CBCI to enlist support
for the amendments.
Trying to
get the backing of both Jaitley and the CBCI has not been an entirely
happy experience for Agnes. "Both the sides are not forthright. The
Church wants the process to begin anew. They are saying, let us pursue
the divorce part of the Christian Marriage Bill 2000," says Agnes,
who flew into Delhi to talk to MPs. "The minister wants the CBCI
to give its endorsement to our amendments in writing. Priests are refusing
to oblige. They say they have already given their concurrence to such
changes." Echoes Saldana: "It's like playing football. Why can't
they for once take into consideration what women want?"
All of which
means Jaitley's strategy of limiting the Government's agenda to amending
the IDA has yielded the desired results. For the first time since Independence,
the Government would be able to effect changes in the personal law of
a minority community.
Top
|
Enron
symbolises everything that's wrong with the way reforms were handled by
M/s Rao & Manmohan, says INDIA TODAY Associate Editor