Dowry System-some reflections

It is gratifying and satisfying as well that the state government has realized that development as perceived in popular sense of term unaccompanied with a change in mindset of the people towards societal issues is hardly enough for its holistic development. Despite a number of legislations to address these issues the progress made so far towards minimizing them much less eradicating them is far from satisfactory. The evils perpetrated by the customary system like dowry is a case in hand which seeks discussion for better appreciation of the matter.

I have not found, despite my best efforts, that this so called system of dowry has any sanction by any hindu religious scripture. There is not even the slightest reference of Dahej or its English equivalent Dowry in any hindu religious book save mention of Vardakhina which is a sort of offering purely voluntary presents at the time of marriage (not before or after) to the bridegroom after Kanydaan by the father or relatives of the bride in connection of marriage performed ritually as laid down in the Grihyasutra. So strictly speaking Vardakhina cannot be taken for dowry for reasons mentioned below-

 Vardakhina is purely a voluntary act of the bride’s father who gives presents to the bridegroom at the time of marriage itself out of love and affection only and not in any case other than that. The case of dowry is entirely different. It is a greed oriented demand driven function in course of marriage negotiation between the parties on behalf of the bridegroom. This demand is thrust upon to be fulfilled/or fulfilled by bride’s relatives or her father as if marriage depended upon fulfillment of an obligation born out of an implied agreement reached between the parties to the marriage whereby before, during and after property/and or valuable security is delivered by the bridal party to the groom or his father or guardian. 

Thus it is clear from the above exposition that dowry is not ritually sanctioned under hindu marriage ceremony. Despite it being so how this evil has crept into our belief system can only be explained by societal tendency of 

Treating, by virtue of mere birth, boys superior to girls irrespective of the superior achievements/attainment of the latter. 

Interpreting any custom otherwise it being neutral or innocent to our own benefit to be drawn from such custom.

Excessive lust for being rich overnight by exploiting the societal belief system whereunder the status of women is still not at par with men and requires to be redressed socially, economically and politically.

Against this background the dowry system survives to flourish even in this age where we pat our back as a materially advanced race having all sorts of creature comforts at our disposal. 

The evils of dowry cannot be controlled by legislation alone as rightly observed by the Chief Minister in his inaugural address on the occasion on 02.10.2017. Experience has shown that all social legislations have fallen short of their objectives because they are either without teeth or without sufficient enforcement machinery. 

This is what is in the case of The Dowry prohibition Act, 1961 which suffers from both. The term dowry under the Act is poorly and vaguely defined. In the definition as laid down in the original Act the words were “as consideration for marriage” which has been substituted with words “in connection with marriage”. The new definition widens the scope of dowry but it is then hardly a definition. This comes into clear relief when one notes that wedding presents, whatever their value, are excluded from the purview of dowry. It would have been better to say ‘whatever does not constitute wedding presents constitutes dowry’. 

 Secondly, the parents do not give dowry out of their free will but are compelled to do so. When both the giver and taker are punishable, no giver can be expected to come forward to make a complaint. How can the punishment of the offender succeed if along with him the victim may also be punished. Notwithstanding the Act provides for Dowry Prohibition Officer as enforcement agency it is yet to be made functional.

 Moreover, it is also required to be mentioned that social progress always lags behind the social legislations and hence what we can do is to bridge this lag by way of creating an environment by way of movement against dowry and this is what the government is doing for the social well being of the population which is increasingly becoming skewed against women under the impact of this societal evils. Social engineers, thinkers, activists, voluntary organizations, Panchayati Raj institutions, agraria, industria, intelligentia, and academia must come forward concertedly and effectively to create an environment favourable to government/administrative efforts towards curbing this evil which is a sort of mental violence upon women compelling them treat themselves inferior to men whereas the fact is that the reverse is true so far as this system has been allowed to exist not only with high degree of tolerance in our society of male dominance but with an element of chauvinistic impunity also.   

                                                                            R.R.Prabhakar

                                                                              03.10.2017