Is Monogamy Permanent? Justice Katju Examines Love, Law and Social Change
- Love Beyond Law: Is Monogamy a Temporary Social Arrangement?
- Ballia Tragedy: When Love Collides with Law
- Indian Society in Transition: Old Values, New Realities
Law and Relationships: What the Hindu Marriage Act Allows
Justice Markandey Katju examines the Ballia tragedy to ask a deeper question: Is monogamy a permanent institution, or will changing values reshape marriage?
Is monogamy a permanent institution?
By Justice Markandey Katju
A news report has come from Ballia district, UP, India, that two young men fell in love with the same girl, and the girl fell in love with both. She secretly dated both and swore to love both, though she kept it secret from the other. When the secret was revealed to the two, they were so mentally distressed that both consumed poison. One of them, Suraj, has died, while the other is in hospital.
In my recent speech in a function in Delhi, I said that Indian society is in a state of flux, with a lot of social churning going on
As I said in the aforesaid speech, human societies, including Indian society, are rapidly changing, with the result that values too are changing. For instance, the phenomena of live-in relationships, gay relationships, common law marriage, pre-marital sex, etc have come into existence, and have been legalised by judicial verdicts
The two young men of Ballia who fell in love with the same girl were obviously deeply mentally disturbed because they realised that the girl could not legally marry both, as the law ( the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 ) validates only monogamy. But is monogamy a permanent institution ?
A study of the history of human society shows that it is not. In fact, before the enactment of the Hindu Marriage Act in 1955, a Hindu male could legally marry an unlimited number of women, and those who could afford it ( like Maharajas and Nawabs ) had many wives. Raja Dasharath ( father of Lord Ram ) had two wives, Kaushalya and Kaikeyi, and Lord Krishna is said to have several. Muslims can even now legally have up to 4 wives. The film star Dharmendra married a second woman, the film actress Hema Malini, after ostensibly converting to Islam.
In several human societies, polyandry ( a woman having several husbands ) was permitted. Draupadi, an eminent character in the Mahabharata, had 5 husbands.
The tragedy of the 2 young men of Ballia who fell in love with the same girl was that they were born and lived today, and were far ahead of their time. Had they lived, say about 25 years from now, and had they both been agreeable to marry the same girl ( and she too been agreeable to marry both ), they may not have been driven to take the drastic step that they did. Values may have changed in 25 years or so, and polyandry legalised. Monogamy is not a permanent institution, and in the future, relationships between men and women may also change.
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
