Over 52 years have passed since we have been claiming the independence of our country. Like other developing nations, we focus mainly on donations to ensure structural development.
However, the human resource development agenda is misleading -- the gap between men and women in terms of cultural norms, protocol, and power continues to increase.
For Muslims, inheritance is legalized by Sharia Law -- and the centre of attention there is men. The understanding is that men take the responsibility of the extended family. Consequently, the man will get two portions, and the daughter will get one portion of the property.
We have five sisters and three brothers in the family, including our mother. Our father died in 1990 when I was 13 years old. Two of my elder brothers are in charge of our property in Khulna and Dhaka. They are always forecasting not to distribute the property until everyone settles. My siblings (sisters) conceived not to ask for any share from the family.
First and foremost, we are married, and our responsibility belongs to the husband. Second, we are educated and economically empowered to take our responsibility. It is 2024, and my brothers have made it clear that they are not ready to give our share since they want to have the full benefit to carry their descendants.
As a shareholder, I raised my voice for the property; I was badly in need of financial support to survive in Australia while pursuing my PhD. We have very little scholarship to carry the family.
I am not sure what is the legal scope to distribute the property in the absence of a father. I did not see any legal authority to take over the property distribution implications. However, only 4% of the total privately owned land is registered under women's names in Bangladesh, which demands particular attention for real development.
A woman’s rights to own, control, and access land also have major implications for the achievement of her human rights such as the right to property, food, health, water, work, and education.
There is an urgent need to look into the accessibility status of property for legal intervention to assign property rights to women. We can investigate the experience of other Muslim countries like Malaysia or Indonesia.
Shahida Khanom, PhD, is currently working as a Board Member for the WorldHeritage Nomination at IUCN.