Major issues concerning women in 19h century India

The woman’s question arose in modern India as a part of 19h century social reform movement what are the major issues and debates concerning women in that period ?

    In complete contrast to the west where enlightenment movement propelled modern scientific outlook India was trapped in a vicious circle of socially regressive practices driven by superstitions, animism, magic, prejudice and irrationality. The status of women was particularly worrying in 19th century India. The social reform movements tried to weed out these social evils.

    Major issues concerning women in19h century India was,

• Practice of female infanticide.
• Practice of early child marriage.
• Prevalence of dowry in marriages.
• Practice of purdah system.
• No attention was paid to female education.
• Unequal or absence of inheritance rights.
• Prevalence of polygamy.
• No power/right to come out of an undesired marriage.
• No economic independence.
• No freedom to choose partners.
• Caste rigid enforcements and notion of family pride dictated women’s behaviors.
• Absence of widow remarriage.
• Practice of Sati (burning alive of wives along with in the funeral pyre of husbands)

The birth of girl child was viewed as inauspicious and her marriage an economic burden by many communities. Female infanticide was prevalent. The Bengal regulations of 1795 and 1804 declared it as illegal and equal to murder. An act passed in 1870 made it mandatory for registering the birth of all babies and provided for verification of female children for some years after birth, particularly in areas where female infanticide was prevalent.

Child marriage was prevalent and the marriage of a girl was viewed as a burden. The native Marriage Act (or Civil Marriage Act) prohibited child marriage but it wasn’t applicable to Hindus, Muslims and other recognized faiths. The Age of Consent Act (1891) was passed by the efforts of Parsi reformer, B.M.Malbari. The Act forbore the marriage of girls below 12.

Polygamy was prevalent among both Hindus as well as Muslims. Women education was not given any priority. J.E.D Bethune and Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar led a powerful movement in support of women education. Woods Dispatch on education (1854) also laid stress on it.

Though numerous women did not lead a married life worth a name, they were expected to commit sati on their husband’s demise. Raja Ram Mohan Ray led a frontal attack on sati and called it a ‘murder according to every sastra’. His efforts led to the passage of Regulation of 1829 which made burning alive of widows illegal and punishable by criminal courts as culpable homicide.

Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar also led in the efforts to propagate and popularize widow remarriage. Vidyasagar cited Vedic texts to prove that the Hindu religion sanctioned such marriage. The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act (1856) was passed becaus of his efforts.

The reformers appealed to the doctrines of individuality and equality and weed out medieval, feudal and parochial attitudes. They also persuaded the government to enact favorable legislations for women’s emancipation. The effort to eradicate the injustice against women has been carried forward by Indian constitution and progressive government legislations and policies.