'Manusmriti Give Respectable Position To Indian Women': States Delhi HC Judge, Triggers Backlash

Presenting the inaugural speech at the conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the topic 'Facing the unseen barriers: Addressing Challenges faced by Women in Science, Technology, Entrepreneurship and Mathematics (STEM)', Justice Prathiba Singh of the Delhi High Court stated that Asian countries, and in particular India, are a step ahead in terms of respecting women.

She narrated the many teachings of the Vedic scripture. She advised the women present at the conference to focus on strengthening the core values of the Indian family system in order to receive greater support for their careers and ambitions. Based on the same, she is under the belief that Indian women are "a blessed lot" as these ancient scriptures prescribe a respectable position for women in society.

What Did Justice Prathiba Singh Said?

Manusmriti, the religious text authored by Manu, is one of the many legal texts or code-books for Hinduism. The text has been widely criticised in modern India for its gender, and caste-based codes are often considered discriminatory.

Justice Prathiba Singh mentioned how Asian countries do much better in respecting women in all spaces, including households, workplaces, and society, due to the teachings of the Vedic scriptures. "I think that is because of the cultural and religious background that we have that our scriptures tell us," she added to it.

Having said this, Singh claimed that India is a lot more progressive about women in leadership roles, reported Indian Express.

While not ignoring the crimes against women, Justice Singh noted that the violence and the bad things recorded against women at a lower level cannot be overlooked, but that women in the higher and middle classes are seeing remarkable growth.

Among the many pieces of advice she gave out on the dais, she asked working women to be mindful of family values and strengthen them while living in joint families. In contrast to the nuclear structure families, the joint families provide more support to working women and hold greater respect for women as they have older and wiser men, according to Singh. She staunchly believes that the joint family system should prevail as it upholds a beneficial environment for women.

Adding on to the same idea, she reflected on how living in a joint family inculcates ideas of sharing over selfish thoughts such as "I need my time, I need this.", and helps them to be more adjusting and compromising in nature. With all these points said, she believes that large families are the way to go for women who aspire to have careers.

She was also quoted saying, "Manusmriti itself says that if you don't respect and honour women, all the pooja path that you may do has no meaning", which makes Indian women a blessed lot who enjoy immense respect in society. And asserting the same idea, she added that the ancestors and Vedic scriptures knew quite well how to respect women.

Taking the discussion further, she spoke about the many biases and taboos people tend to attach to women involved in the legal profession. Justice Singh said that parents of women lawyers often fret that the profession tags them as unmarriable. Refuting this thought process, she said that women lawyers make the best spouses as they understand conflicts and the difficulties faced in dispute resolution.

Landing Straight Into Controversies

Many activists and netizens have taken on social media platforms to say that Singh's take on Manusmriti is highly in contrast to the regressive ideas that are propagated by the scripture.

Highlighting the same, several people posted excerpts from The Hindu Law Code of Manu, which is considered backwards in thinking concerning the contemporary constitution that ensures equal rights. Among those mentioned ones was the Shloka 148 from Chapter 5 of Manusmriti, which states that a woman must remain under the control of her father as a child, under her husband's control as a young woman, and continue to be controlled by her sons after the demise of her husband. Indicating that the woman's autonomy should be within the clutches of the male member of the house she lives in.

Manusmriti was written in ancient India by sages who noted their ideas on how a perfect society should be framed. It has been a scripture that was subject to many appraisals and criticisms, even on the Western front.

BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian constitution, was among the strongest critics of the text and believed that Manusmriti was responsible for the existing discriminatory practices of the caste system in the nation. In protest of the teachings of the Manusmriti, he also burned the scripture in a bonfire on 25 December 1927, which continues to be celebrated as Manusmriti Dahan Din.

Backlash From All Spheres!

Remarking on Ambedkar's efforts to build an inclusive and progressive constitution, many netizens believe that Justice Singh's statement is outrageous as she is in a position to abide and ensure that Constitutional rights are given to everyone, reported Scroll.

Mentioning the same, Communist Party of India Marxist (CPIM) politburo member Brinda Karat said that as a High Court judge for the national capital, Justice Singh is bound to uphold her duties as prescribed by the Constitution of India regardless of her personal opinions.

Karat said, "The scriptures she has quoted are in many sections directly in flagrant opposition to the Constitution and the rights granted to women of India and especially Dalit and Adivasi women by the Constitution."

Her statements also triggered a backlash from the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW). General Secretary of the Federation, Annie Raja, voiced her strong disagreement with the speech made by Justice Singh.

Raja said, "Her reading of the Manusmriti willfully chooses to ignore the institutionalised prescriptions of the absolute disciplining and punishing of women's bodies and ideas. This is in addition to the despicable ascriptive norms of caste that is encoded in the said text."

Historian Audrey Truschke, who has worked on inter-community relations in medieval South Asia, called out Singh's statements as "nonsense" in a series of tweets where she cited examples from the Manusmriti, which propagates regressive ideas.

What nonsense. Manu was a misogynist through and through (and very proud of it). I'll let him speak for himself --

"Even in their own homes, a female—whether she is a child, a young woman, or an old lady—should never carry out any task independently... https://t.co/uobBuWPTV7

— Dr. Audrey Truschke (@AudreyTruschke) August 11, 2022

CPI Liberation leader Kavita Krishnan also conveyed concern that the judge's statements are "downright scary", considering she plays a crucial role in ensuring that the rights of women in India are protected.

My thoughts on Delhi HC Judge Pratibha Singh's blather on women & culture and so on. pic.twitter.com/eWdk9yBECM

— Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) August 11, 2022

Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nandy commented on the incident, saying that she suspects the Justice has not read the entire scripture.

The #Manusmriti is now trending on Twitter as many people continue to express their strong disapproval of Justice Singh's interpretations of the scripture.

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