Court seeks end to discrimination against Bangladeshi women

Government asked to explain why female inequality should not be declared illegal

A Catholic official has welcomed a ruling from Bangladesh’s top court that seeks to end gender-based discrimination against women in all religions in the socially conservative country.

On International Women’s Day on March 8, a High Court bench of Justice Mohammad Rais Uddin issued a suo moto ruling questioning the discrimination against women in social status, jobs and inheritance. A suo moto ruling refers to actions by a judge taken without a prior motion or request.

The court asked the government to explain within four weeks why inequality between sons and daughters, males and females, in terms of social status, jobs and inheritance in all religions should not be declared illegal.

The Cabinet Division secretary and secretaries to the ministries of law, women and children affairs, and religious affairs have been made respondents to the rule, the Daily Star newspaper reported on March 9.

Father Albert Thomas Rozario, a Supreme Court lawyer and member of the Catholic bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, hailed the ruling as “groundbreaking.”

“I think empowerment as well as equal rights for women in Bangladesh is possible only when people of all religions can accord equal rights or dignity to women from their respective places. In this case, I think this rule of the High Court is groundbreaking,” Father Rozario told UCA News.

“I fully support the ruling given by the High Court and I want it not to be limited to just rules but to be implemented. We want to come out of our patriarchal society and live with dignity”

The priest said the Catholic Church offers equal rights to men and women including inheritance rights. He, however, admitted that women still lag behind in empowerment, decision making and social status. “The Church is working on it to improve the situation,” he added.

In Bangladesh, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians have separate laws regulating personal affairs such as marriage, family maintenance and inheritance, which is a legacy of British colonial era.

In Muslim personal law, women inherit half of a property in a family. Hindu laws dictate that women are not entitled to inherit family property. In the absence of a personal law, Buddhists are covered by Hindu family laws. The Christian Succession Act stipulates Christian women are entitled to an equal share of a property from their husbands and fathers.

Bangladesh’s government formulated the National Women Development Policy in 2010 seeking to end all forms of discrimination against women of all religions in all places as well as equal rights to succession. However, the policy was put on hold following strong opposition and street protests by Islamic hardliners.

For years, rights groups and women activists have called for an end to discrimination against Hindu women in terms of inheritance through amendments to Hindu family laws. Thaat also met with stiff protests from radical Hindu organizations.

Pratima Rani, 23, a student from the University of Dhaka in the national capital, decried that without equal rights Hindu women cannot live with dignity .

“I fully support the ruling given by the High Court and I want it not to be limited to just rules but to be implemented. We want to come out of our patriarchal society and live with dignity,” Rani told UCA News.

“Whether a girl is of marriageable age or not, the family thinks that she needs to get married as soon as possible and get a good husband”

Rita Roselin Costa, convener of the women’s desk at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh, pointed out some common forms of discrimination against women in all religions in the country.

“Whether a girl is of marriageable age or not, the family thinks that she needs to get married as soon as possible and get a good husband. They are apprehensive about what will happen after she finishes education. Many such discriminatory thoughts are made about women in every religion in the country,” Costa told UCA News.

Although in Christian law a daughter get an equal share of her father’s property, our women do not know much about it as there have been few efforts to publicize the law, she said.

“From an early age, our societies have given women the thought that if we take our fathers’ property, then our relationship with our brothers will be severed. So even though many daughters are in dire need, they do not take the property just to sustain the relationship,” Costa added.

Law Minister Anisul Huq said gender discrimination cannot be resolved by laws alone.

“Gender discrimination is being removed and demands are being raised for equal distribution of properties as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government is trying to remove discrimination,” the minister said during his speech as the chief guest at a program by the National Human Rights Commission in Dhaka on International Women’s Day.