Child marriage is considered to be a violation of human rights by the Human Rights Commission and is prohibited. Let us see what all efforts were made by the British India government in early 1900s to eradicate child marriages.
In order to curb the child marriages in India especially in the states of Rajasthan, Bombay and Madras, British-India government has passed a resolution known as 'Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929'. This Bill was presented by Rai Sahib Harbilas Sarda of Ajmer Presidency in 1927 to the Imperial Legislature in India. Hence, this act got the name as 'Sarada Bill'. As per this act, the husband of the under-aged girl, people who compel her to get married and parents / guardians of both the parties will be punished.
This bill was very famous in those days. It was the first social reform issue that was taken up in India for the benefit of women. Now, let us see how clever our (Great) Grand parents were in obeying the law...
My Grandmother got married at the age of 9 before this act was passed in Guntur which comes under Madras State of British India. So, at that point of time, her parents had no problem. She had a younger cousin.. and it was decided that she would get married to my grand father's brother. This marriage got fixed after the bill was passed.
Answer is a big 'No'. They simply went to Yanam, about 150 KMs from Guntur to complete all the marriage rituals., and then came back to Guntur silently.
This was a small French Territory located on the Coromandel Coast about 9KMs from Bay of Bengal. It is surrounded on all sides by the Madras State (currently surrounded by East-Godavari District of AP). It being a French- Indian colony, British Law had no value and thus there is no Sharadha bill.
In a similar way, people went to surrounding French (Mahe, Karaikal, Pondicherry, Yanam) and Portuguese (Daman, Diu, DNH, etc) territories in India to complete their marriage rituals. How clever they were!!!
So, I can say that my Grand Mother's cousin got married in a Foreign country.
In order to curb the child marriages in India especially in the states of Rajasthan, Bombay and Madras, British-India government has passed a resolution known as 'Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929'. This Bill was presented by Rai Sahib Harbilas Sarda of Ajmer Presidency in 1927 to the Imperial Legislature in India. Hence, this act got the name as 'Sarada Bill'. As per this act, the husband of the under-aged girl, people who compel her to get married and parents / guardians of both the parties will be punished.
This bill was very famous in those days. It was the first social reform issue that was taken up in India for the benefit of women. Now, let us see how clever our (Great) Grand parents were in obeying the law...
My Grandmother got married at the age of 9 before this act was passed in Guntur which comes under Madras State of British India. So, at that point of time, her parents had no problem. She had a younger cousin.. and it was decided that she would get married to my grand father's brother. This marriage got fixed after the bill was passed.
Now... did they postpone the marriage to another five years..?
Answer is a big 'No'. They simply went to Yanam, about 150 KMs from Guntur to complete all the marriage rituals., and then came back to Guntur silently.
What is so special about Yanam...
This was a small French Territory located on the Coromandel Coast about 9KMs from Bay of Bengal. It is surrounded on all sides by the Madras State (currently surrounded by East-Godavari District of AP). It being a French- Indian colony, British Law had no value and thus there is no Sharadha bill.
In a similar way, people went to surrounding French (Mahe, Karaikal, Pondicherry, Yanam) and Portuguese (Daman, Diu, DNH, etc) territories in India to complete their marriage rituals. How clever they were!!!
So, I can say that my Grand Mother's cousin got married in a Foreign country.
nice excerpt from your ancestor's history sir :-)
ReplyDelete:-) Thanks Amaresh
ReplyDelete