ISBN: | 978-5-5088-5745-5 |
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Following independence for India, the postcolonial government led by Jawaharlal Nehru completed the codification and reform of Hindu Personal law, a process that had been begun by the British. According to the British policy of noninterference, reform of personal law should have arisen from a demand from the Hindu community. This was not the case, as there was significant opposition from various Hindu politicians, organizations, and devotees who saw themselves unjustly singled out as the sole religious community whose laws were to be reformed. However, the administration saw such codification as necessary in order to unify the Hindu community, which ideally would be a first step towards unifying the nation. They succeeded in passing four Hindu Code Bills: the Hindu Marriage Act (1955), Hindu Succession Act (1956), Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (1956), and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (1956). These continue to be controversial to the present day among women’s, religious, and nationalist groups.