A prehistory of rights: The age of consent debate in colonial Bengal

Feminist Studies

Volumn 26, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 601-622

  Sarkar, Tanika ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0040792569     PISSN: 00463663     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3178642     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Simmons, Honorary Secretary, Public Health Society of India to Chief Secretary, Government of Bengal, Calcutta, 1 Sept. 1890; Bengal Government, Judicial, NF JC/17/ Proceedings 104-17, June 1893.
2. Dainik O Samachar Chandrika, 14 Jan. 1891.
3. For legal reforms, see J.D.M. Derett, Religion, Law, and the State in India (London: Faber & Faber, 1968); also see Sir William Marby, Hindu and Mohammadan Law (Calcutta, 1906; reprint Delhi, 1977); Sripati Roy, Customs and Customary Law in British India, Tagore Law Lectures (Calcutta: Calcutta University, 1908-09).
4. For legal reforms, see J.D.M. Derett, Religion, Law, and the State in India (London: Faber & Faber, 1968); also see Sir William Marby, Hindu and Mohammadan Law (Calcutta, 1906; reprint Delhi, 1977); Sripati Roy, Customs and Customary Law in British India, Tagore Law Lectures (Calcutta: Calcutta University, 1908-09).
5. For legal reforms, see J.D.M. Derett, Religion, Law, and the State in India (London: Faber & Faber, 1968); also see Sir William Marby, Hindu and Mohammadan Law (Calcutta, 1906; reprint Delhi, 1977); Sripati Roy, Customs and Customary Law in British India, Tagore Law Lectures (Calcutta: Calcutta University, 1908-09).
6. For a more old-fashioned orthodox statement, see its presentation and refutation: Ramnath Tarkaratna, Opinion on the Garbhadahan Ceremony according to Hindu Shastras, Delivered to Government, Calcutta, 1891.
7. Bangabashi, 21 Mar. 1891; RNP, Bengal, 1891.
8. Bangabashi, 21 Mar. 1891; RNP, Bengal, 1891.
9. Bangabashi, 28 Mar. 1881.
10. For a discussion of these arguments, see Tanika Sarkar, "Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resisting Colonial Reason and Death of a Child-Wife," in Economic and Political Weekly 36, 4 Sept. 1993: 1869-78; and "The Hindu Wife and the Hindu Nation: Domesticity and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Bengal," in Studies in History 7, no. 2 (1992): 213-37.
11. For a discussion of these arguments, see Tanika Sarkar, "Rhetoric against Age of Consent: Resisting Colonial Reason and Death of a Child-Wife," in Economic and Political Weekly 36, 4 Sept. 1993: 1869-78; and "The Hindu Wife and the Hindu Nation: Domesticity and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Bengal," in Studies in History 7, no. 2 (1992): 213-37.
12. See H.H. Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal: Ethnographic Glossary, vol. 1 (1891; reprint, Calcutta: Mukhopadhyaya, 1981), xciii.
13. Bangabashi, 25 June 1887; RNP, Bengal, 1887.
14. Bangabashi, 25 June 1887; RNP, Bengal, 1887.
15. See Sarkar, "Hindu Wife and the Hindu Nation."
16. This suggests a modest and timid variant of Social Darwinism: instead of a race for survival through assertion of power over other nations, recommended here is a survival of the nation through the preservation of identity.
17. Imminent death as a dominant motif in cultural-nationalist discourses has been discussed in the context of early-twentieth-century Hindu militant politics by P.K. Datta, Carving Blocs: Communal Ideology in Early-Twentieth-Century Bengal (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999).
18. Dhumketu, 4 July 1887; Report on Native Newspapers, Bengal, 1887.
19. Dhumketu, 4 July 1887; Report on Native Newspapers, Bengal, 1887.
20. Risley.
21. See Charles Taylor, "The Politics of Recognition," in Multiculturalism, ed. Amy Gutman (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), 25-73.
22. Such safeguards to the privileged control of the community over intracommunal relations and decisions are recommended as a viable political alterative to uniform citizenship notions by Partha Chatterjee for present times as well. He also suggests complete freedom to communities for settling intercommunity relations and conflicts according to norms generated entirely within group ethics and without any recourse to universalistic reason. See Fartha Chatterjee "Secularism and Toleration," Economic and Political Weekly, 9 July 1994. For a critical reflection, see Sumit Sarkar, "The Decline of the Subaltern," in Writing Social History (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997), 82-108.
23. Such safeguards to the privileged control of the community over intracommunal relations and decisions are recommended as a viable political alterative to uniform citizenship notions by Partha Chatterjee for present times as well. He also suggests complete freedom to communities for settling intercommunity relations and conflicts according to norms generated entirely within group ethics and without any recourse to universalistic reason. See Fartha Chatterjee "Secularism and Toleration," Economic and Political Weekly, 9 July 1994. For a critical reflection, see Sumit Sarkar, "The Decline of the Subaltern," in Writing Social History (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1997), 82-108.
24. Colonized Indians were not citizens in any real sense. In 1890-91, they had not come to acquire even the most nominal representation in legislative bodies. At the same time, the state allowed self-governance in the realm of personal laws. Although those laws perpetuated the discipline of high-caste patriarchal norms, now even they were under considerable strain from public debates. See Jurgen Habermas, "Struggles for Recognition in the Democratic Constitutional State," in Multiculturalism, 107-48.
25. This comes out very clearly in the first full-length autobiography in the Bengali language, Rashsundari Debi's Amar Jiban (Calcutta, 1875). I have translated it and have incorporated the translation in my Words to Win! Amar Jiban, A Nineteenth-Century Autobiography (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1999).
26. This comes out very clearly in the first full-length autobiography in the Bengali language, Rashsundari Debi's Amar Jiban (Calcutta, 1875). I have translated it and have incorporated the translation in my Words to Win! Amar Jiban, A Nineteenth-Century Autobiography (New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1999).
27. Basantakumari Dasi, Jositvigyan (Barisal, 1875), 2.
28. Education Gazette, 11 May, 1873; RNP, Bengal, 1873.
29. Education Gazette, 11 May, 1873; RNP, Bengal, 1873.
30. Dacca Prakash, 8 June, 1875; RNP, Bengal, 1875.
31. Dacca Prakash, 8 June, 1875; RNP, Bengal, 1875.
32. The Bengalee, 25 July, 1891.
33. Justice Wilson's charge to the jury in the case of Empress v. Hari Mohan Maitee, Calcutta High Court. Report sent by Acrar, Clerk of the Crown, High Court Calcutta, to Officiating Secretary, Government of Bengal, Calcutta, September 1890. Bengal Government, Judicial, J C/ 17/, Proceedings 90-102, 1892, Nos. 101-2, File J C/17-5.
34. Simmons, 1 Sept. 1890.
35. Ibid.
36. See, for instance, letters from F.R.S. Collier, District Magistrate, Midnapore, 4 Feb. 1891; D.R. Lyall, Commissioner, Chittagong Division, 5 Feb. 1891; E.E. Lowis, Chief Commissioner, Rajshahi Division, 3 Feb. 1891; H. Savage, Magistrate of Backergunje, 1 Feb. 1891; and many others, Files J 7A/2, Judicial, Political and Appointments Departments, Judicial, 1891.
37. See especially, Ishan Chundra Mitra, Government Pleader, Hooghly, to the Chief Secretary, Government of Bengal, 2 Feb. 1891; Duaraka Nath Ganguly, Assistant Secretary, Indian Association, to Chief Secretary, 6 Feb. 1891; B.C. Seal, Sessions Judge of Bankura, to Chief Secretary, 6 Feb. 1891; Manomohan Ghose, Barrister and Advocate, Calcutta High Court, 6 Feb. 1891; and many others, ibid.
38. Bankimchandra, Kamalakanta (Calcutta, 1875); Jogeshchandra Bagal, ed., Bankim Rachanabali, vol. 2, Sahitya Sansad (Calcutta, 1954), 73.
39. Bankimchandra, Kamalakanta (Calcutta, 1875); Jogeshchandra Bagal, ed., Bankim Rachanabali, vol. 2, Sahitya Sansad (Calcutta, 1954), 73.
40. Chandrakanta Basu, Garhasthya Path (Calcutta, 1887).
41. Description of a wedding in Sulabh Samachar O Kushadaha cited in Report on Native Papers.
42. For citation of many such views by the first generation of writing women, see Words to Win.
43. Dainik O Samachar Chandrika.
44. See Seyla Benhabib's discussion of Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan in "The Generalized and the Concrete Other: The Kohlberg-Gilligan Controversy and Moral Theory," Feminism as Critique: On the Politics of Gender, ed. Seyla Benhabib and Drucilla Cornell (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987), 280-91.
45. Cited in Radha Kumar, Tne History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990 (Delhi: Kali for Women, 1993), 12, 18.
46. I have discussed these writings in my Words to Win. See also Rosalind O'Hanlon, A Comparison between Women and Men: Tarakai Shinde and the Critique of Gender Relating in Colonial India (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996).
47. Rajendralal Mitra, cited in Hindoo Patriot, 25 Dec. 1890.
48. Bangabashi, 25 Dec. 1890, RNP, Bengal 1890.
49. Bangabashi, 25 Dec. 1890, RNP, Bengal 1890.
50. Dainik O Samachar Chandrika.
51. See Taylor.
52. See Partha Chatterjee, Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993), 16, and The Nation and Its Fragments (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).
53. See Partha Chatterjee, Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1993), 16, and The Nation and Its Fragments (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993).
54. Taylor.
55. Benhabib in Feminism and Critique.
56. The entire question of the nature of identity, which is most mortgaged a community discipline, has acquired a sinister aspect in the present Indian context. A militaristic and intolerant political formation-a variant of Hindu nationalism-has emerged as the dominant partner within the ruling coalition government at the center. A mass-front organization of this party masterminds violent campaign against Indian Muslims and Christians, arguing that these minority communities are the products of conversion away from Hinduism which is the sole authentic religion of the Indian people, the repository of the cultural identity. Any stepping away from this identity threatens the imminent loss of India's cultural distinctiveness. Conversion, therefore, is something that cannot be allowed to Indian people. See Sumit Sarkar, "Hindulva and the Question of Conversions," in The Concise Indian's Guide to Communalism, ed. K.N. Panikkar (Delhi: Viking, 1999).
57. For an excellent discussion of certain forms of universalisability, and of the problems that arise when they are denied, see Martha C. Nussbaum, Introduction, and Martha Chen, "A Matter of Survival: Women's Right to Employment in India and Bangladesh," as well as Roop Lekha Verma, "Family Equality and Personhood" all in Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, ed. Martha Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 373-61; 426-33.
58. For an excellent discussion of certain forms of universalisability, and of the problems that arise when they are denied, see Martha C. Nussbaum, Introduction, and Martha Chen, "A Matter of Survival: Women's Right to Employment in India and Bangladesh," as well as Roop Lekha Verma, "Family Equality and Personhood" all in Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, ed. Martha Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 373-61; 426-33.
59. For an excellent discussion of certain forms of universalisability, and of the problems that arise when they are denied, see Martha C. Nussbaum, Introduction, and Martha Chen, "A Matter of Survival: Women's Right to Employment in India and Bangladesh," as well as Roop Lekha Verma, "Family Equality and Personhood" all in Women, Culture, and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, ed. Martha Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 373-61; 426-33.