Women and modernity: The issue of child marriage in India

Women's Studies Int. Quart., 1979, Vot. 2, pp. 407-419 © P e r g a m o n Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain

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W O M E N AND MODERNITY: THE ISSUE OF CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA GERALDINE H. FORBES

Associate Professor of History, State University of New York, College at Oswego, Oswego, N.Y. 13126, U.S.A. (Received M a y 1979; accepted Jtme 1979)

Synopsis--In less than a century, the legal age at which an Indian female could begin conjugal life has been raised three times. While this has generally been viewed as evidence of concern with women's emancipation, a closer scrutiny of the historical evidence suggests that this particular issue has served as a vehicle to advance an entire set of socio-political attitudes. In 1891, the Age of Consent controversy was diverted from the problem of the helplessness of child wives to the question of whether or not the British government had a right to interfere in Hindu social customs. The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 was fought for by reformist Hindus and particularly the emerging women's organizations because it illustrated that Indians were deeply concerned with and anxious to change certain social practices. The latest increase in the legal age of marriage (October, 1978) was related to population policy. Favoring a later age of marriage has become synonymous with commitment to modernity but it has not necessarily meant commitment to modifying the social position of women. O n O c t o b e r 1, 1978, I n d i a ' s Child M a r r i a g e R e s t r a i n t A c t was a m e n d e d to raise the minim u m age o f m a r r i a g e to 18 for females a n d 21 for males. This measure h a d been u n d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n for s o m e time a n d legislation h a d been p r o p o s e d u n d e r Mrs. I n d i r a G a n d h i ' s g o v e r n m e n t as early as 1974. The previous age o f m a r r i a g e - - 1 6 for females a n d 18 for m a l e s - - w a s frequently ignored. However, it was n o t child m a r r i a g e p e r se which inspired this recent desire for legislation; this revision o f the 'age at m a r r i a g e ' was discussed in terms o f n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n policy. It is believed t h a t reducing the child-bearing years o f I n d i a n females could reduce p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h b y 13,000,000 per year. 1 This r e f o r m represents the t h i r d m a j o r a t t e m p t in less t h a n a century to raise the age at which females begin their m a r r i e d life. W h i l e one might conclude from this evidence t h a t c o n c e r n with w o m e n ' s e m a n c i p a t i o n has h a d a long history in India, the three cases need to be m o r e closely examined. W h a t did the reformers h o p e to a c c o m p l i s h ? W h y d i d 'age o f m a r r i a g e ' b e c o m e the vehicle for social c h a n g e ? A n d finally, w h a t seemed to be a c c o m plished ? The first attacks on child m a r r i a g e b e g a n as early as the 1850s a n d only b o r e fruit decades later in 1891 when the 'age o f c o n s e n t ' (the age at which sexual intercourse could begin) was raised f r o m 10 to 12 in the I n d i a n Penal Code. In 1929, the Child M a r r i a g e R e s t r a i n t A c t ( S a r d a A c t ) was passed. This act raised the m i n i m u m age for m a r r i a g e to 14 for females 1 This issue has been debated for some time. Some of the newspaper articles that appeared include the essential debate: Ministers and marriage, Hindustan Times (August 5, 1975); India set to raise age for marriage, New York Times (August 10, 1974); Proposal to raise marriage age, Times o f l n d i a (August 6, 1974); Bal Patti, Raising marriageable age: demographic impact, The Economic Times (June 15, 1976). In the revision to the National Population Policy (April, 1976) the minimum age of marriage was raised to 18 for females and 21 for males. This became law in October, 1978 with the amendment to the Child Marriage Restraint Act. 407

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and 16 for males. Its supporters anticipated an increase in female education and the greater participation of females in the political and social affairs of the country. The present concern for 'age at marriage' is tied to India's preoccupation with a growing population and food shortages. In this case, it is predicted that a later age at marriage will reduce fertility.

THE AGE OF CONSENT CONTROVERSY, 1891 In the nineteenth century, under firmly established British rule and to a large extent because of contact with the ideas and social customs of the British, many Indians became concerned with what the foreign missionaries termed the 'evils' of Hindu society. They responded by urging social reform and particularly by trying to improve the position of women. Sati (widow burning), widow remarriage, polygamy, purdah (veiling, seclusion), and women's education claimed their attention. At first, it was thought that legislation was the answer (the abolition of Sati, 1829, and the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act, 1856) but it soon became apparent that laws could not change custom. Recognizing this, the reformers began to divert their energies to educating society and changing women, through education and the newly formed women's organizations. Child marriage, practiced among the higher castes since the Christian era, had become widespread in the nineteenth century. 2 The custom had Shastric (sacred law) backing and was supported by social customs and attitudes. Suitable partners were difficult to find within a society which rigidly prescribed the boundaries within which marriages were to be arranged. In addition, great emphasis was placed on female chastity and an unmarried female past puberty was regarded as in danger of rape or seduction. Not only do young marriages make it easier to 'match' the couple in terms of prescribed groups, but they protect the female from becoming an unwed mother. Moreover, a wery young daughter-in-law could gradually be taught the ways of her new family and the burden of adjustment would be considerably eased (Toward Equality, 1974; pp. 81-82). Efforts to obtain government support in abolishing this custom began with the wellknown reformer, Pandit Vidyasagar. In an article published in Sarvasubhakari (1850), he urged his associates to pledge they would not arrange the marriages of their daughters until the girls were at least 11 years old and of their sons until they were 18 years (Bose, 1960; p. 126). The government responded by declaring that consummating a marriage with a wife below age 10 would be considered rape and ordered offenders transported for life (Kapadia, 1966; p. 146). In addition to criticizing the prohibition against the remarriage of widows and the education of females, Vidyasagar attacked the custom of child marriage for causing 'endless misery'. Blaming the practice on outmoded custom and sastras, he focused on its detrimental aspects in terms of the health and education of India's womanhood (Sen, 1977; p. 53). Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, a number of reformers focused on the problem of early marriage. Keshub Chunder Sen, the famous leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a reformist 2 There are a number of sacred Hindu texts that support pre-puberty marriage: Baudhayana Dharmasutra, Manusamhita, Vaikhanasasatra and others. These belong to a class of sacred literature called Smriti (remembered) which is generally regarded as inferior to Sruti (revealed) literature, i.e. the Vedas. Many reformers have argued that the evidence of adult marriages in the Vedas is of greater significance than the later statements urging pre-puberty marriage. See Kapadia, K. M. 1966. Marriage and Family in lndia. 3rd edn, Chap. 7. Oxford University Press, Calcutta; and Basham, A. L. 1954. The Wonderthat Was India. p. 166. Grove Press, New York.

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religious society, urged that a minimum age for marriage be included in the Special Marriage Bill of 1872. Minimum ages were set at 14 for girls and 18 for boys, but the act applied only to Brahmos and others who declared they did not belong to the Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh or Jaina community (Majumdar, 1967; p. 17). Mahadev Govind Ranade, a prominent theist and social reformer of Poona, linked the problems of child marriage and over-population. In 1881, he urged his friends and associates to pledge they would personally work for an increased age at the time of marriage. These individuals advanced arguments for a later age of marriage, stressing the physical and social advantages for females and the physical and social advantages for a society which would have fewer child widows and fewer child mothers. It was with the publication of Behramji M. Malabari's 'Notes' on 'Infant Marriage' and 'Enforced Widowhood' in 1884 that the movement to obtain legislation affecting all communities began. Malabari, a Parsi journalist from Bombay, suggested that government institutions, particularly universities and the civil service, reward unmarried males and that school books include information on the evils of child marriage. He urged the government to enforce the provisions of the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 and provide channels for mistreated widows to complain to the authorities. Realizing the great difficulty of enforcing widow-remarriage, pointed out by some of his friends in reply to these 'Notes', Malabari increasingly focused on child marriage (Telang, 1916; pp. 241-251). In the coming years, child marriage became the central issue in a campaign that stressed physical weaknesses and moral degeneration more than the problems of child widowhood (Kapadia, 1966; pp. 148-149). Initially, the British government was reluctant to act on this issue. They responded to Malabari's memorandum by consulting the Provincial Governors who in turn were to obtain the opinions of the most competent authorities representing the following groups: orthodoxy, liberals, Indians and Europeans. The majority of the Governors advised the Viceroy against interference and Lord Dufferin decided to postpone action until public opinion was sufficiently developed (The Times, October 15, 1886; p. 8). The response of Indians to Malbari's 'Notes' was far more significant than the 'Notes' themselves. The Government received over 200 formal replies from social reformers, supporters of the orthodox position, medical men, lawyers, princes, scholars, British administrators and public bodies (Heimsath, 1964; p. 152). The replies favoured Government action and included a variety of suggestions. Ardent supporters set up the National Social Conference to act as a central institution which could support this reform. Dr. Mahendralal Sircar, president of the Conference in 1887, spoke of the evils of child marriage: 'The Hindu race consists at the present d a y . . , by virtue of this very blessed custom, of abortions and premature b i r t h s . . , every man and woman born of parents of such tender years as 10 or 12 for a girl and 15 or 16 for a boy must be pronounced to be either an abortion or a premature birth. And are you surprised that the people of a nation so constituted should have fallen easy victim under every blessed tyrant that ever chose to trample upon them?' (Heimsath, 1964; p. 167.) The strength of the Indian people and the future of the nation were now dependent on this reform. Other reformers worked on tracts to explain the relationship of proposed reforms to Hindu religious law. Ranade answered the arguments against state interference in religious customs in an essay entitled, 'The Sutra [religious text] and the Smriti [a class of religious

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literature] dicta on Hindu marriage' (Jagirdar, 1963; p. 12). Similarly, Dr. Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, a Professor at Deccan college, wrote 'A note on the age of marriage and its consummation according to Hindu law' in which he said that consummation could be delayed for 3 years after puberty (Wolpert, 1962; p. 55). Not only was child marriage attacked as the cause of India's weakness, but the sanctity of the custom was denied. Meanwhile, another section of the population, including both Englishmen and Indians, believed the custom of child marriage was dying out on its own. A. O. Hume, the founder of the Indian National Congress, was reluctant to have Congress embroiled in this controversial issue and commented on the decline of the custom (Rees, 1890; p. 662). Others stressed the extent to which child marriage was a regional custom and did not affect all castes and communities. The notion that child marriage was in decline was contradicted by a few sensational and highly publicized cases of cruelty towards child brides. In 1886, Dadaji, the consumptive husband of Rukhmabai, brought a court case against his wife for restoration of conjugal rights. She refused and the Court ordered her imprisoned (Heimsath, 1964; p. 170). Equally famous was the case of Phulmoni Das and Hurry Mohun Maitee. In 1890, Phulmoni, aged 10, died of injuries resulting from sexual intercourse with her 35 year-old-husband. Charged with manslaughter, Hurry Mohun defended himself in terms of the age of consent fixed by law in 1860. When he was sentenced to 12 months' hard labour, the orthodox community protested (The Times, July 28, 1890). While most observers of the Hindu family system denied that consummation ordinarily took place so early--and in fact stressed the difference between the formal marriage and the effective marriage--the British press was anxious to show a different picture. Between 1888 and 1889, The Times included more than a dozen long articles spelling out the evils of child marriage and citing cases of young girls, aged l-11, mistreated by their husbands or mothers-in-law (The Times, February 8, 1888; September 17, 1888; April 22, 1889; July 15, 1889; December 2, 1889; July 28, 1890). Malabari and other social reformers first appealed to the British Government and then appealed to the British people, through the press and public meetings. By doing so, they changed the rationale for the reform. Their original concern had been the low status of women, and raising the age of marriage only one of a number of interrelated reforms. But in order to win support for the measure, the focus had switched to the evils of early consummation. Malabari visited England in 1890 where he spoke to various groups, formed a committee to pressure the government, and wrote letters to the press (Shridevi, 1965; p. 31). The Committee formed included notables such as Lord Northbrook, Lord Dufferin, Sir William Muir, Lord Ripon, Sir Fitzjames Stephens, Max Muller, Lord Tennyson and Herbert Spenser (The Times, August 20, 1890; p. 3; September 3, 1890; p. 4; September 13, 1890; p. 8). Fully aware of the impact of an emotional appeal, Malabari wrote and spoke about India's 40,000,000 widows, the temptations which awaited the child widow, and the reprisals which descended upon a pregnant widow. One of his letters ended with a plea to the women of England: 'It is little I ask for; but on this depends our all. To the wives and mothers of Great Britain, therefore, I appeal finally on behalf of the orphans of British India' (The Times, September 3, 1890). In India, the issue was also diverted from the original concern with social reform. The controversy increasingly focused on whether or not the government had a right to interfere in Hindu social customs. The prospect of a Government-sanctioned age for marriage was

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seen as an attempt to destroy religious customs and break down the family system (Heimsath, 1964; p. 162). What had begun as a social reform question became a political issue and nationalists like Tilak, who disagreed with legislation for this purpose, used it to inflame the masses against British domination (Wolpert, 1962; pp. 46-54). With publicity focusing on the sensational, the reformers became more concerned with early consummation and early pregnancy, i.e. the 'immediate evils' of child marriage, than with the long range consequences for society. Malabari had begun with child widowhood, Ranade's early references were to population problems, Mahendralal Sircar and Dayaram Gidumat had been concerned with the health of the children and mothers. But the 'immediate evils' took precedence and reformers began the debate of how to prevent consummation before puberty. The interest in setting a minimum age of marriage, as had been done in the Special Marriage Bill of 1872, was dropped. K. T. Telang argued for reform of the age of consummation and Dayaram Gidumal suggested that the penal code be amended to raise the age of consent from 10 to 12 (Heimsath, 1964; p. 161). According to these individuals the age of marriage would not be affected, only consummation., Because the entire question of reform had been caught up in the political controversy of the late 1880s and early 1890s, the amendment to the Criminal Code, passed in 1891, was radically different in implication from the original concern. It was clearly a compromise solution: the age of consent was raised to 12 while marriages could be arranged and performed without any age restriction. The real importance of this bill must be seen, as Heimsath has pointed out, in terms of the nationalist movement: 'By means of the Age of Consent controversy the social reform movement achieved national recognition, and henceforth the social reform question was inescapably a part of nationalist ideologies. But the agitation on that issue had its sobering side: while it unified and "nationalized" the social reform movement, it also publicized the anti-reformers and the revivalist nationalists and aroused great public support for orthodoxy' (Heimsath, 1964; p. 173). The Age of Consent controversy has become a case study for Indian historians. It was the last measure of reform in India affected by influencing English public opinion, the first measure of reform when public opinion was aroused, the first time that leaders aroused the masses, and the first time that politics and reaction had been successfully linked (Nataraja, 1959; p. 82). But as an effort to bring about concrete change in the position of women, it cannot be considered significant. THE CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINT ACT, 1929 When the Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1929, it was the culmination of 8 years' activity in the Legislative Assembly to raise the 'age of consent' inside and outside of marriage. In 1921, the League of Nations held a conference to discuss the problem of traffic in women and girls. The outcome was a recommendation that participating countries raise the minimum age of consent for single females to 21 years. Mainly concerned with traffic in females, members of the Conference did not consider the 'age of consent' within marriage. However, the Indian representative to the League proposed that age 16 be substituted for age 21 and apply within marriage (Gupta, 1925; pp. 270-273). In the Indian Assembly, Lala Girdhari Lal asked the Government whether it would undertake legislation to set a minimum age for marriage. The Government replied that the initiative should come from a private individual. There were soon two bills in the Assembly representing the Indian response to the League of Nations' suggestions. In 1922, Rai Bahadur Bakshi Sohanlal moved a bill to raise the

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age of consent, both within and outside marriage to age 14 (Kapadia, 1966; p. 153). For the next 5 years, bills were introduced and thrown out regularly. The Government was clearly reluctant to deal with this issue and worked consistently to make the proposed legislation less controversial (Government of India, 1927; file 382/27). In 1927, Gour introduced his Children's Protection Bill which would have raised the age of consent to 14 within marriage and 16 outside of marriage (Legislative Assembly Debates (LAD) III, 1927; p. 2968). It was decided to circulate this bill for opinions and the Age of Consent Committee (Joshi Committee) was appointed to study the matter in detail. While the Gour Bill was being circulated, Rai Sahib Harbilas Sarda introduced his Hindu Child Marriage Bill on September 15, 1927. Sarda maintained that age of consent legislation could not touch the real problem--child marriage. He defended his Bill in terms of its many benefits for women. If passed, and enforced, child widows would disappear and female children would be given an opportunity to develop physically and mentally. Sarda related this particular social reform to the growing nationalist movement: 'so long as these evils exist in this country, we will have neither the strength of arm nor the strength of character to win freedom' (LAD, V, 1927; pp. 4405-4414). Debate over this reform was proceeding in a direction opposite to that noted with Malabari's reform. Prior to 1891, reformers had asked for laws against child marriage because of their long range benefits for women and had ended up focusing on the immediate evils of child marriage. In the 1920s, the 'age of consent' was discussed in the League of Nations and debate over this specific issue led to concern with age of marriage as a way of achieving political and social modernization. Once again, publicity in Great Britain (and in the United States) had much to do with how discussion of this reform progressed. In 1927, Mother India, a devastating attack on Indian social customs by an American freelance journalist, Katherine Mayo, was published. In Chapter two, entitled 'Slave mentality', Mayo offered her conclusion: 'Given men who enter the world physical bankrupts out of bankrupt stock, rear them through childhood in influences and practices that devour their vitality; launch them at the dawn of maturity on anunrestrained outpouring of their whole provision of creative energy in one single direction; find them, at the age when the Anglo-Saxon is just coming into full glory of manhood, broken-nerved, low-spirited, petulant ancients; and need you, while this remains unchanged, seek for other reasons why they are poor and sick and dying and why their hands are too weak, too fluttering, to seize or to hold the reins of Government?' (Mayo, 1927; p. 32). By 1929, at least eight books and numerous articles had been written by Indians in response to Mayo's charge. Generally, reformist Indians denied that the picture was as grim as Mayo portrayed it, offered evidence of Indian efforts to combat social evils, and charged that the British Government prevented reform. Turning her conclusion around, they argued that the existence of social evils proved that Indians needed Home Rule so that they could attack the problems effectively (Sunderland, 1929; pp. 1-6). Amidst the flurry created by Mayo's book, Sarda's Bill was referred to the Select Committee who suggested that it be changed from the Hindu Child Marriage Act to the Child Marriage Restraint Act and apply to all communities. They further recommended that the punishment for an infraction of the law be jail or a fine, and that the minimum ages be 18 for males and 14 for females (The Social Reformer, 1928; p. 465). These recommendations were accepted but voting was postponed pending the report of the Joshi Committee. Originally appointed to throw light on Gour's Bill, this Committee had expanded its questions to be relevant to the Child Marriage Restraint Act.

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The Joshi Committee's report was presented to the Assembly in September of 1929. Based on 1200 questionnaires and 400 interviews, the report stated that 42 per cent of the Indian female population were married before they reached age 15 (48.4 per cent of all Hindu females; 37.01 per cent of all Muslim females), and that consummation occurred soon after marriage with no thought for the fitness of the girl (Report of Age of Consent Committee, 1929; LAD, IV and V, 1929; p. 254). They recommended: 15 as the minimum age for females, 21 as the age of consent, compulsory registration of births and marriages, and light punishment for the husband if he were only in his teens (Mod. Rev., 1929; pp. 340-341). The final Bill included 14 as the minimum marriage age for females. When the Assembly voted on this Bill, 77 voted in favor, only 14 against. The Sarda Act came into effect in 1930. In the case of this particular measure, support had been couched almost entirely in terms of its value for improving women's position. Support ranged from Gandhi's writings and pronouncements to the lobbying of the newly formed women's organizations. And although the campaign was not fought in England, world opinion, influenced by the publication of Mother India was taken into account. Aware of the bad press generated by Mayo's account of the Indian health scene, educated Indians were anxious to push through a visible reform. By 1926, Gandhi had clearly expressed his dislike of child marriage and was suggesting that child marriage be declared void (Gandhi, 1926). A year earlier, he had confessed to the world: 'It is my painful duty to have to record here my marriage at the age of 13' (Gandhi, 1957; p. 8). And Gandhi made it clear that, in his case, 13 was the age at which sexual relations began. Marriage, in his view, was only important for procreation and only adults were capable of making this kind of decision (Shridevi, 1969; p. 67). He suggested 16 as the minimum age for marriage and claimed that prohibition on early marriage would protect girls from premature old age, prevent Hinduism from sanctioning the birth of weak, rickety children, help curb man's lust, and help develop man's capacity for self-sacrifice (Gandhi, 1947; pp. 31-32; Tendulkar, II, 1961; pp. 366-367). It was a plea based on his ideas of marriage, sex and women's equality. The women's organizations were involved in promoting this legislation at every stage. They generated propaganda against child marriage, commented on proposed bills, petitioned, had one of their members on the Joshi Committee (Mrs. Brijlal Nehru), met with the Joshi Committee, lobbied to secure passage of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, and worked, after its passage, for registration of births and marriages and other legislation to make it a meaningful Act. It was in dealing with the Sarda Act that Indian women first made their presence felt as a pressure group to be reckoned with in matters of social legislation. The Women's Indian Association (WIA), the first national women's organization (begun in 1927), had as its president Annie Besant. Besant had long been critical of child marriage. In Wake Up India (1913), she stressed the desirability of breaking with the custom of child marriage and returning to the healthier and more dignified practice of the Vedic Age which she asserted was adult marriage. Child marriage she regarded as a custom which sapped the vitality of the nation; the future of India depended on this reform (Besant, 1913; pp. 4%50). The stated objective of the WIA was to band women together for 'self-development, continuation of education and service of others'. More specifically, they pledged themselves to secure the abolition of child marriage and an increase in the age of consent. Preoccupied with questions relating to the franchise, the WIA made only slight efforts before 1927 to

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spread propaganda against child marriage (WIA, 1967; p. 1). In 1927, they began a more intensive campaign and went from house to house collecting signatures supporting 16 and 21 as minimum ages for marriage (AIWC, 1928; p. 38). The National Council of Women in India (NCWI), begun in 1925, was affiliated with the International Council of Women. A co-ordinating organization, the NCWI supported societies working for the removal of legal, economic and social disabilities. Concerned with age of consent, they directed all their provincial councils to unite in support of Gour's Bill in 1927 (NCWI, 1926-1928; p. 16). But the efforts of these two national organizations were far surpassed by those of the All India Women's Conference (AIWC). Formed in 1927 to give women a forum to discuss their ideas about female education, the age of consent issue was raised at the first meeting of this organization. One of the patrons, the Maharani of Baroda, urged the delegates 'to organize a regular campaign of propaganda throughout the country in favour of the resolution with a view to getting it accepted by both the Assembly and the Government of India' (AIWC, 1927; p. 17). The AIWC members would have preferred a higher minimum age but they decided to throw their support behind the bills of Gour and Sarda. By 1928, this organization had set up a standing committee to deal exclusively with child marriage and age of consent. They watched the progress of the Bills, co-ordinated and directed the activities of the provincial committees, and urged their views on the legislatures. Provincial delegates were encouraged to urge their bodies to form similar committees to carry on an intensive educational campaign against child marriage and bring their views urgently and constantly before the provincial legislative bodies. It was suggested that the branches hold propaganda meetings and lectures, distribute literature and posters, obtain signatures, and organize a postcard campaign (AIWC, 1928; p. 40). In addition, they arranged to hold their annual meeting for 1928 in Delhi so that it would be possible to attend sessions of the Assembly and pressure members (The SocialReformer, 1927; p. 815). The AIWC had identified child marriage and purdah as the two most harmful social customs affecting the role of women. Both customs conspired to keep the Indian woman ignorant, unhealthy and shut off from concerns outside the home. Education was seen as the key, it alone could lead Indian women 'to proper realization of rights and duties' both at home and in the nation. Women's influence on Indian society would be tremendous: they had a particular gift to bring 'to the national household' once freed from debilitating customs (AIWC, 1928; pp. 58, 68). And legislation preventing child marriage was seen as a necessary first step in the process of liberating Indian females so they could be educated. The AIWC carried on a number of activities to make their views known to the Government and the Assembly. They sent deputations to wait on the Viceroy, a delegation to the Assembly to watch the proceedings, met individually with influential members of the Assembly, and sent deputations to the Age of Consent Committee. Their deputation to the Viceroy was successful in that they found Lord Irwin sympathetic to social reforms affecting women. The meetings with Assembly members were of mixed value. Motilal Nehru indicated that he favored the reform, while Lal Lajpat Rai went a step further and insisted that these reforms be passed and enforced. Muhammed Ali Jinnah condemned child marriage as contrary to the laws of Islam. He was supported by T. A K. Shervani who claimed that the only reason Muslims in India practiced this custom was because they had been corrupted through interaction with Hindus. Despite the support of Jinnah and Shervani, approximately half the Muslim membership of the Assembly sided with the Deputy President, Maulvi Muhammed Yakub, in opposing these reforms (LAD, IV and V,

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1929; pp. 1139, 1149). The Hindu opposition was led by Pandit Mohan Malaviya who balked at a minimum age for marriage higher than 12 years. When he met with the women's deputation, he quoted Sastras in support of his position and angered some of the women who threw back at him: 'We want new Sastras' (AIWC, 1928; pp. 75-78). Meeting with the Joshi Committee in 1929, AIWC members sought to both voice their approval for legislation and destroy the arguments made by the opposition. They denied that women favored youthful marriages, that marriages of older persons would lead to immorality, and that men were universally supportive of child marriage. Attacking the religious arguments, they insisted that child marriage was not a part of the Vedic religion. For those who claimed that the Sastras should be followed, the AIWC asked about other areas of life where the Sastras were not followed. Moving next to the subject of progress and the welfare of the Indian people, the delegation developed the theme of the disastrous effects of young parenthood. They concluded with demands for legislation and severe punishment for offenders (AIWC, 1929; p. 65). In the Assembly, the supporters of the Bill seemed to stress the physical disadvantages of early marriage. Child marriage resulted in early consummation and early motherhood and consequently the race was weakened. On the question of religious sanction, Iyengar maintained that Vedic custom overruled Smriti. Child marriage should never have been regarded as a religious custom, the supporters of the Sarda Act insisted, since it was a medieval interpolation. Thus, abolition of child marriage would not offend anyone religiously and it would help to make the race stronger, healthier and better able to deal with the problem of self-government. In their support for this Bill, members of the women's organizations were careful to avoid the feminist label. They were neither feminists nor suffragettes, they insisted, and their efforts to uplift women could not be accomplished by sex war. The spokeswomen for female emancipation spoke of women's role in the world as an extension of her role in the home. Women had a special part to play because of their experience--in the joint family they learned to bring harmony into quarrels and to co-ordinate different schedules and personalities (Kaur, t968; p. 175). The education they received would make them better fit to fulfill this role as well as their traditional roles. The AIWC insisted that females should be educated differently to males; education for females should specifically stress mothercraft and housecraft to develop better housekeepers (AIWC, 1928; p. 46). Once again child marriage became the target of those who wanted improvement in female literacy, better child care and a healthier population. But no one was really satisfied with the Sarda Act. Opponents of the Bill, both Muslims who denied the state's right to interfere with law and orthodox Hindus who continued to refer to the Sastras, made efforts to amend the Act. Even more frustrating for the reformers was the fact that the law was badly designed and rarely enforced. In the period between 1929 and 1935, the Sarda Act was cited by British feminists as the reason why the participation of Indian women should be increased in the next instalment of self-rule. Miss Eleanor Rathbone, M.P., led this group (the British Women's Franchise Committee) and argued that Indian women suffered under oppressive social conditions (e.g. child marriage) that were not likely to be reformed until women themselves were fully represented in politics (Rathbone Papers, folders 2, 8). CONTEMPORARY EFFORTS TO RAISE THE AGE OF MARRIAGE The marriage age was again raised with passage of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. According to this Act, the minimum age for females was 15 years and for males, 18 years,

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Indira Gandhi had called this Act women's 'Charter of Emancipation'. With its allowance of divorce, the right to maintenance and a higher age of marriage, Indian women have been given a status that suggests emancipation. While the reformers of previous generations were concerned with female education or the health of future generations, recent proposals to raise the age of marriage reflect a concern with birth control and women's rights. The question of birth control through legislating a higher minimum age of marriage causes considerable debate. While raising age at time of marriage from 14 to 18 would be a significant gesture, the recent increase from 16 to 18 is unlikely to have much impact in controlling births. All the indicators are that raising the age of marriage could only be effective in cutting births if the minimum age for marriage could be raised to 19 or 20 for females (Mandelbaum, 1954; p. 150). And it has been suggested that this would be unenforceable. It also should be noted that there are factors other than age at marriage which contribute to the fertility of Indian women. The relationship between female status and the bearing of sons, the importance of sons in rituals commemorating ancestors, the value of children in a society without social security, and insecurity about the survival of children, all urge women towards early and frequent pregnancies. This recent proposal has won the support of a small but vocal group that I would term modern Indian feminists. Aware that they may be accused of imitating Western women's 'libbers' and upsetting India's harmonious family system, they continue to criticize the treatment of women.3 This approach, which involves concern for women's rights, influenced the Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India entitled, in published form, Towards Equality (1974). As well as expressing concern for female education, health and population growth, the Report commented on age of marriage: 'When the legal age of marriage in case of a female is below the age of discretion, she cannot be expected to form an intelligent opinion about her partner in life. The policy of law which permits the marriage of a girl before she is physically and mentally mature is open to serious question. As reported by the Pushpaben Committee, child marriage is one of the significant factors leading to the high incidence of suicide among young married women in India. Therefore, increasing the marriage age of girls to 18 years is desirable' (p. 112). A cautious statement perhaps but one that focuses on the female's right to evaluate her husband. CONCLUSION At these three points in history, reformers sought to improve society through improving the position of women and hoped to improve women's position through modification of the law setting the minimum age for effective marriage. The reformers of 1891 wanted to end the cruel and wasteful custom that produced child widows and to improve the health of mothers and the children they bore. At this time, the arguments for and against reform were caught up in political questions. The primary issue became whether or not the British had a right to interfere in Hindu social customs. As the debate raged on, attention became focused on a few unusual cases of cruel treatment of child brides and reformers became more interested in securing legislation to prevent the 'immediate evils' than in improving the position of women in society. In the 1920s, the first individuals to propose an increase in the age of consent were a Among this group, I would include: Promila Kapur, Vina Mazumdar, Lotika Sarkar, Veena Das, Zarina Bhatty, and Neera Desai as well as a number of other women writers and academics. It should be noted that this categorization derives from my perception and may not be shared by any of the above.

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inspired by a Conference held by the League of Nations. These reform efforts found considerable support from Gandhi and other Congress leaders, from liberal Muslims, and perhaps most important, from the newly formed all-India women's organizations. Child marriage, in the eyes of organized women, ranked withpurdah as a social custom that would have to be abolished before positive changes would be possible. Education for girls, improvement of physical health, moral advancement and even political independence were regarded as dependent on improving the status of women. The recent concern with child marriage can only be seen as emerging from the Government's concern with the population problem and the criticism of the 'real' (as opposed to the legal) status of Indian women. The opponents of those who support a raised marriage age no longer come from the Hindu orthodoxy; rather both sets of people have the same class background, and the same commitment to modernity. But the former group criticizes the recent laws for their effectiveness and feasibility. Whether or not raising the age of marriage can accomplish the dual goals of population control and raising women's status will depend on a number of other factors. And, as has been true in the past, there is the problem of enforcing such a law when many births continue to go unregistered. Perhaps one of the most serious hurdles in securing acceptance for this increased age of marriage is the problem of protecting females until they reach this age. In a society which insists that women are under the protection of some male (either father, husband or son) the burden of extending this protection becomes more difficult the longer females are left unmarried. Since educational institutions can share this burden, some reformers have argued that India needs schools for girls first and the older age at time of marriage will naturally follow (Paril, 1976; pp. 5, 7). What none of these proponents of marriage reform have questioned is whether or not raising the age of marriage can really improve the status of women and begin the social change thought necessary for modernization. Since the mid-nineteenth century, it has been assumed that a later age at time of marriage would guarantee an improved social status yet there has been little evidence to support this simple formula. As Shirley Lindenbaum has so ably demonstrated in a recent paper on female survival in Comilla District of Bangladesh (1978), the age at marriage has risen but this change has been accompanied by a shift in the mode of production of males (from land owning to wage earners) and in the exchange at time of marriage (from bride-price to dowry). Even though the average age at time of marriage was approximately 19 years for females in 1974, this was only one element in a complex socio-economic pattern which suggested 'deterioration rather than an enhancement in the chances of female survival' (Lidenbaum, 1978; pp. 6, 8). This study clearly suggests the importance of looking at women's status at the district level. In some areas, later age of marriage has been accompanied by increased educational opportunities and even employment for females which together contribute to an improved status. However, it is clear that a later age at time of marriage is not the key to social change. Yet, to expect each piece of legislation, especially social legislation, to have some fairly immediate and identifiable result seems rather naNe. In this sense, I think the efforts to raise the age of marriage must be seen as symbolic reform, and as such, important indicators of what those with political authority deem of value. 4 By supporting legislation that almost seems whimsical (how could anyone enforce the 'age of consent' within marriage ?) reformers '~This discussion of symbolic reform has been influenced by Joseph R. Gusfield's work, 1963. Symbolic Crusade: Status Politics and the American Temperance Movement. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

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o f the 1880s were able to t a k e a stand on a n u m b e r o f related social a n d political issues. Similarly, the c o n t r o v e r s y t h a t raged in the 1920s, resulting in the S a r d a Act, p r o v i d e d an o p p o r t u n i t y for n a t i o n a l i s t a n d social reformers to identify the enemies o f progress as the o r t h o d o x y s u p p o r t e d b y the conservative colonial rulers. M o s t recently, c h a m p i o n s o f a later m a r r i a g e age have been able to indicate their s u p p o r t for the n o t i o n t h a t w o m e n can have an i m p o r t a n t role in e c o n o m i c development. I f we r e g a r d the issue o f child m a r r i a g e as symbolic, it b e c o m e s clear t h a t passing laws to raise the age o f m a r r i a g e can have g r e a t value in i n d i c a t i n g where the political authorities are willing to confer a p p r o v a l . Clearly, the I n d i a n authorities, f r o m the British in 1891 to M o r a r j i Desai in 1978 have been c o m m i t t e d to m o d e r n i t y , b u t n o t necessarily c o m m i t t e d to w o m e n ' s a d v a n c e m e n t .

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Press, Boston. Government of India. 1927. Home Department. Judicial. File 382]27. Gupta, J. S. 1925. Children protection bill. Mod. Rev. XXXVIII, 270-273. Gusfield, Joseph R. 1963. Symbolic Crusade: Status Politics and the American Temperance Movements. University of Illinois, Urbana. Heimsath, Charles H. 1964. Indian Nationalism and Hindu Social Reform. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. Hindustan Times. August 5, 1975. Ministers and marriage. Jagirdar, P. J. 1963. Studies in the Social Thought of M. G. Ranade. Asia Publishing House, Bombay. Kapadia, K. M. 1966. Marriage and Family in India. Oxford University Press, Calcutta. Kaur, Manmohan. 1968. The Role of Women in the Freedom Movement, 1857-1947. Sterling, Delhi. Lindenbaum, Shirley. 1978. How long do women live ? Biology and behavior in Bangladesh. Paper presented at NY Asian Studies Conference, Syracuse University. Legislative Assembly Debates. 1927: III and V; 1929: IV and V. Majumdar, B. B. 1967. History of Indian Social and Politieal Ideas. Bookland, Calcutta. Mandelbaum, David G. 1954. Fertility of early years of marriage in India. In: Kapadia, K. M. ed. Professor Ghurye Felicitation Volume. Popular Book Depot, Bombay. Mayo, Katherine. 1927. Mother India. Harcourt, Brace, New York. Mod. Rev. 1929. Consent Committee's Recommendations, XLVI. Nataraja, S. 1959. A Century of Social Reform in India. Asia, Bombay. N C W I Report. 1926-1928. New York Times. August 10, 1974. India set to raise age for marriage. Paril, Bal. June 15, 1976. Raising marriageable age: demographic impact. The Economic Times. Rathbone Papers. April 15, 1930. Folder 2: E. Rathbone to Mr. Wedgwood Benn; March 25, 1933. Folder 8: Letter to the Editor of The Times from the National Council for Equal Citizenship; April 22, 1933. Press Agency. Rees, J. D. 1890. Meddling with Hindoo marriage. Nineteenth Century XXVIII. Report of the Age of Consent Committee. 1929. Central Publication Branch, Calcutta. Sen, Asok. 1977. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and His Elusive Milestone. Riddhi-India, Calcutta. Shridevi, S. 1965. A Century of Indian Womanhood. Rao & Raghavan, Mysore; 1969. Gandhi and the Emancipation of Indian Women. Gandhi Sahithya Prachuranalayam, Hyderabad. The Social Reformer. August 27, 1927. Age of consent; March 24, 1928. Sarda Marriage Bill. Status of Women in India: A Synopsis of the Report of the National Committee. 1975. The Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. Sunderland, J. T. 1929. Miss Katherine Mayo's 'Mother India' weighted in the balance, what is the verdict ? Mod. Rev. XVL.

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Times oflndia. August 6, 1974. Proposal to raise marriage age. Towards Equality: Report o f the Committee on the Status o f Women in India. 1974. Government of India, New Delhi. WIA. 1967. Golden Jubilee Celebration Volume. Madras. Wolpert, Stanley A. 1962. Tilak and Gokhale. University of California Press, Berkeley.