RECOGNIZING THE RIGHT OF THE THIRD GENDER TO MARRIAGE AND INHERITANCE UNDER HINDU PERSONAL LAW IN INDIA
Abstract
One of the most implicit foundations of a person’s identity today, in a cultural, national as well as global context, is the collegial relationship which he or she shares with another person, that relationship ultimately giving formation to a conjoint, consolidated and co-dependent recognition of the two as one under the law, particularly with respect to resolving socio-familial issues such as those of parentship, guardianship, adoption, succession and inheritance, among others.
The term “relationship” mentioned above is connotative of marriage and the following paper attempts to look at this relationship, in its connection to the various facets of one’s personal identity as a citizen, from the perspective of a third gender Hindu Indian national. Though the right to marry of such an individual, especially as seen against the backdrop of the existing communal ethos in the country, may be accepted as being some form of a heterodoxy, it still falls short of qualifying as anything that could be called, in the least, “heretical” or even illegal.
While due to the constraints of time the authors of the present study have been compelled to restrict the same to only a particular division of nationality and a further specific sub-class thereof, the authors sincerely hope that this study will inspire further such examinations into its chosen subject within the field domains of other religions and nationalities.
About the Authors
D. Chowdhury
Symbiosis Law School
India
India
B.B.A. L.L.B. Student,
Survey No. 227, Plot 11, Rohan Mithila, Opp. Pune Airport, New Airport Road, Viman Nagar, Pune, 411014
A. Tripathy
Symbiosis Law School
India
India
B.B.A. L.L.B. Student,
Survey No. 227, Plot 11, Rohan Mithila, Opp. Pune Airport, New Airport Road,
Viman Nagar, Pune, 411014
References
1. Ananthamurthy U.R. Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).
2. Beasley C. et al. Homosexuality in Theory and Practice (New York: Routledge, 2012).
3. Bennett T. Cuts and Criminality: Body Alteration in Legal Discourse (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2015).
4. Brook H. Conjugal Rites: Marriage and Marriage-like Relationships Before the Law (Dordrecht: Springer, 2007).
5. Critical Intersex (M. Holmes, ed., Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2009).
6. Cruz D.B. Getting Sex “Right”: The Heteronormativity and Biologism in Trans and Intersex Marriage Litigation and Scholarship, 18 Duke Journal Gender Law & Policy 203 (2010).
7. Druru N. Reincarnation: Exploring the Concept of Reincarnation in Religion, Philosophy and Traditional Cultures (New York: Barnes & Nobles Books, 2002).
8. Ellison M.M. & Plaskow J. Heterosexism in Contemporary World Religion: Problem and Prospect (Cleveland: Pilgrim, 2007).
9. Ferrard G. & Andreatta S. Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective (10th ed., Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning, 2014).
10. Frankle R.E. Does A Marriage Really Need Sex?: A Critical Analysis of the Gender Restriction on Marriage, 30(6) Fordham Urb. L.J. (2002).
11. Grenfell L. & Hewitt A. Gender Regulation: Restrictive, Facilitative or Transformative Laws?, 34 Sydney Law Review 761 (2012).
12. Jain M.P. Indian Legal History (Lulu Press, Inc., 2014).
13. Mishra K.C. Studies in the Mahabharata (Bhubaneswar: Institute of Orissan Culture, 1989).
14. Mishra R.C. Moksha and the Hindu Worldview, 25(1) Psychology & Developing Societies (2013).
15. Mukhopadhyay M. Legally Dispossessed: Gender, Identity, and the Process of Law (Calcutta: Stree, 1998).
16. Mulla D.F. Sir. Mulla Hindu Law (12th ed., LexisNexis, 1960).
17. Nanda S. Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India (2nd ed., Belmont, CA: Wardsworth Publishing Co., 1999).
18. Pandey R. Hindu Samakaras: Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments (2nd ed., Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass Publishers, 1969).
19. Reddy G. With Respect to Sex: Negotiating Hijra Identity in South India (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010).
20. Routledge Handbook of International Human Rights Law (S. Sheeran & Sir N. Rodley, eds., Abingdon: Routledge, 2013).
21. Senghass D. The Clash within Civilisations: Coming to Terms with Cultural Conflicts (London: Routledge, 2005).
22. Sharma P. Historical Background and Legal Status of Third Gender in Indian Society, 2(12) IJRESS (2012).
23. Singh G.P. Justice. Principles of Statutory Interpretation (9th ed., Nagpur: Wadhwa & Co., 2004).
24. Somasundaram O. Transgenderism: Facts and fictions, 51(1) Indian J Psychiatry (2009).
25. Spade D. Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law (New York: South End Press, 2011).
26. Sterling F. Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construct (New York: Basic Books, 2008).
27. Strasser M.P. et al. Defending Same-Sex Marriage: Volume 2 of Our Family Values Same-Sex Marriage and Religion (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007).
28. Thurer S.L. The End of Gender: A Psychological Autopsy (New York: Routledge, 2005).
29. Vanita R. Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005; New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2005).
30. Wilhelm A.D. Tritiya-Prakriti: People of the Third Sex: Understanding Homosexuality, Transgender Identity, and Intersex Conditions Through Hinduism (Philadelphia: Xlibris Corporation, 2004).
For citation:
Chowdhury D., Tripathy A. RECOGNIZING THE RIGHT OF THE THIRD GENDER TO MARRIAGE AND INHERITANCE UNDER HINDU PERSONAL LAW IN INDIA. BRICS Law Journal. 2016;3(3):43-60. https://doi.org/10.21684/2412-2343-2016-3-3-43-60
Views: 2743
Email this article 