Issue Details

GENDER INEQUALITY & RELIGION

ABSTRACT

In terms of religious law, modern India is a cosmopolitan nation with a pluralistic legal system. Separate religious personal laws (RPLs) exist in India for different communities, which the secular state is unwilling to modify. However, these laws have sparked discussion over what gender equality in India actually means because all RPLs, to varying degrees, grant women fewer rights than males, despite the fact that Indian women have been guaranteed equality as a constitutional right. Though RPLs provide for religious inclusion, the history of these laws in India demonstrates that they have been employed selectively as an instrument of government, frequently to the detriment of women. Feminists have previously claimed that numerous identity variations, such as race, ethnicity, and sexuality, should be acknowledged and taken into account by the law. However, the cultural diversity of India puts female equality at odds with religious diversity. I make the case for family laws that are gender-neutral in place of the personal laws of religion. Though this may appear to be an exclusionary argument, cultural identification and gender justice do not have to be completely contradictory values. One strategy for achieving these objectives is to make historical and social context the focal point of all conversations. By reconsidering the feminist aim as one of developing an inclusive legal theory that is attentive to demands of diversity but also those of justice, it is feasible to make the case for common rights for all women.

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