Rahul ji, There Is More to Manusmriti Than One Verse
Rahul ji, there is a basic rule of intellectual honesty: when you quote a text, you cannot make the quotation the text. Yet that is precisely what the current Manusmriti controversy seems to be doing. One verse is quoted. A civilisation is indicted. One prescription is held up. An entire tradition is placed in the dock. That may make for good politics. It makes for poor history. Let us be clear. Manusmriti contains prescriptions that are unacceptable to the constitutional India of today. Its formulations on the dependence of women cannot be reconciled with the modern principle of individual equality. They deserve criticism. There is no need to defend what cannot be defended. But Rahul ji, there is more to Manusmriti than one verse. The same text contains verses in Chapter III — particularly 55, 56 and 57 — that place the honour of women at the centre of family and social well-being. They speak of honouring women and warn that a household where women suffer or are dishonoured cann...
