Dead Women Tell No Tale

Following the Mutiny of 1857, the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown, the Queen proclaimed political sovereignty over India. The authority over the private family matters was now ceded to local religious authority. Most of the issues concerning personal matters were deemed to be religious while it was not entirely clear whether the laws that were recognized were religious in origin or were merely customs. Therefore, many of the customs were sanctioned the use of scriptural and textual authorities rather than situational or practical authorities. In 1858, the Indian Parliament passed legislation governing personal and family matters of Christian immigrants, Jews, and Parsis. The legislation was remarkably similar to that enacted in England and was based on the judicial proceedings and judges in England. This created battles between British interests and native elites focused on the status of Indian women and matrimonial rights. The second half of the nineteenth century became a battleground to remold the Indian family law within a Western model. The legitimacy of the reforms for the English population at home was “civilization” of native colonized by initiating reforms which represented the enlightenment spirit of the Britishers.

The tussle over the political power between native elites and Britishers was fought on the backs of Indian women. The elites were mainly concerned with the degraded position of Indian women. At home, British feminists identified themselves with the cause of Indian women and profoundly wanted to relieve Indian women of the horrors of their subjugated state. British feminists claimed that they better understood the condition of Indian women^.