The right minimum age for marriage 18 or 21?
The right age to marry has always been a matter of conflict between the cultural ideologies of certain sections and social correctness, and different periods witnessed different answers. If we take a peek into the past then it’s explicit that in olden times many preferred child marriages, even our father of nation Gandhiji was also a victim of this cultural malpractice. Overtime during the colonial reign, popular freedom activists like Annie Besant, Margaret cousins, Kamladevi Chattopadhyay, and Muthulaksmi Reddy brought this issue before Motilal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, and finally, in 1929 a bill was introduced by Harbilas Shardha which is commonly known as “child marriage restraint act”.
In the light of these past events, it is visible that our social standards are getting better over time. So now arises the question, what is the right age to get married, is it 18 or 21? Is the current decision to raise the age limit for girls to marry also a part of social reform? Let’s have an overlook on this issue and what exactly infuriated the Indian Govt to move ahead with such a controversial decision.
How was the bill introduced?
The bill to raise the minimum age for girls to marry from 18 to 21 was proposed by Smiti Irani in Loksabha during the winter session of parliament and was implemented as an amendment to the existing child marriage restraint act. Even Though this was a bill without any political interests, it garnered a lot of public as well as opposition criticisms and was referred to have scrutiny by a task force. Taskforce prescribed that the age of marriage for girls should be equated by raising it to 21 thereby we can reduce adolescent pregnancies which are riskier for both mothers as well as the child. Seldom babies born to women below 20 are more prone to have low birth weight, preterm delivery, and severe neonatal conditions.
The bill envisioned the importance of girls' education thereby developing their technical as well as professional skills by ensuring more accessibility to schools and colleges. It also comprises the need to develop mental and physical health as well as emphasizes gender equality. It can be also be interpreted as a milestone in women empowerment and empowering women to tear apart all the social stereotypes. Once enacted it would supersede all other existing laws related to marriage and applies overall to religious as well as caste communities.
How are the counterparts defending?
Right after the proposal of the bill, there were numerous allegations against the Government’s motive behind the sudden enactment of this law. It was subjected to wide criticisms within the Loksabha as well as throughout the country. Opposition politicians stormed against Govt through media, it was categorized as an encroachment to personal liberty. The AIMIM leader Asadudin Owaisi defended by pointing out the fallacy that if a girl is considered as an adult and is provided with the right to choose a future prime minister or to choose his/her religion then how come a girl can’t choose her partner. There were also some wild criticisms like the one stated by Samajwadi party leader Shafiqur Rahman that India was a poor country and most of the parents want to marry off their girl children early.
Apart from these political firestorms, there had been certain valid concerns over the bill as this bill was introduced as an extrapolated version of the preexisting child marriage act and considers men and women below 21 as children which contradicts the current legal conventions. This ambiguity should have been cleared before the enactment of this law.
Words of supporters:
Government and their allies, as well as public supporters, are advocating the need for the legal age of marriage for girls to be raised and equated with boys rather than bringing down the age for boys to marry from 21 to 18 by showcasing the data of girls dropouts from higher education in recent years. Also by raising the age we can ensure that both men and women are mentally as well as physically prepared for having a child and to run a family by sharing their parental roles side by side. In many cases, adolescent pregnancies between 17–19 can be fatal.
An unseen repercussion;
Suddenly after the proposal of this law in Lok Sabha while heated debates were taking place in Sabha as well as in the media a lot of parents out of fear of the age being raised to 21, forced their girl children to marry even without taking proper consent from their children or allowing them to complete their courses and thereby tying them to the patriarchal society itself. This shows that in many parts of our country girl children are still considered a burden and this is shameful for a country like India that manifests the richness of its culture and legacy.
From the perspective of the writer:
Based upon quick research it was evident that most of the countries around the globe have kept 18 years as the legal minimum age to choose their partner. Most of the developed countries are also allowing adults above 18 to get married. In my perspective age limit doesn’t even count as a factor, instead what does count is providing proper education and spreading awareness among the people, taking enough measures to ensure the empowerment of girls such as compulsory learning schemes till graduation, easy access to educational institutions, etc…
In a morally developed society where people chase their dreams, build a career, earn social skills and know what is right for them it doesn’t even matter whether the minimum legal age is 18 or 21. But in India where there are still traces of child marriages as well as girl dropouts, raising the legal age to marry from 18 to 21 is something remarkable thereby helping a lot of girls to live a life they dreamt of without any stereotypes.
“Never lash her when she wishes to shine”
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