It’s no wonder in Bangladesh that the slightest suggestion advocating for women’s equal rights in property inheritance draws immediate flak.
It’s such a familiar scenario by now -- we saw it after the announcement of the 2011 National Women Development Policy and again after the Women Affairs Reform Commission submitted its report last month.
On both occasions, resistance came from certain religious groups who view any proposal for equal inheritance rights as conflicting with Islamic teachings and customs.
I won’t go into the grim details of the protesters’ salvo attacks -- uttering all those derogatory and disrespectful words against our women while opposing the Commission’s report.
But they should know that labeling respected women in our society as “whores” does not comport with the tenets of Islam.
In my effort to research what some of the mullahs -- who interpret religious teachings through public speaking -- say about inheritance, I watched several videos available online. Their arguments all share one “strong point”: They attempt to justify why women should receive a smaller share of inherited property than men.
Their argument, in a nutshell, goes like this: “Men bear the financial burden. Before a woman’s marriage, her father and brothers support all her needs; after her marriage, her husband and sons provide for her -- from food and lodging to clothing and all financial concerns. It is therefore only justified that women accept a smaller inheritance.”
Interestingly, the statistics suggest otherwise.
During the height of the backlash over women’s rights issues in 2013, about 11% of Bangladeshi households were led by women -- that is, just over one in 10 households were female-headed, with women bearing the bulk of their families’ financial burdens. Today, official statistics report that nearly 18% of households are headed by women.
At a time when women shoulder equal responsibilities in both familial and societal spheres, it is unacceptable that their prospects for asset building and prosperity be dashed in the name of narrow, misconstrued interpretations of scripture
So the claim that only men bear the family’s financial burden is factually incorrect.
One of the earliest believers in Islam, Khadija herself was a successful merchant. Pundits note that she fed and clothed the poor, assisted relatives financially, and provided marriage portions for needy relations.
In modern-day Bangladesh, large numbers of women engage in income-generating activities and work shoulder to shoulder with men in every sphere of life.
Even if we choose not to recognize the unpaid care work and household chores they perform, millions of women join the national workforce each day, contributing fully or in part to their families’ incomes and wealth.
If we continue depriving women of their due shares in inheritance, why should they toil to build that wealth in the first place?
Over 86% of Bangladesh’s export earnings come from ready-made garments -- and that industry relies heavily on women workers. Thanks to sound policy directions over the years, women now mainstream themselves in almost every sector of the economy: From agriculture to the foreign labour market -- earning precious remittances -- and from manufacturing to corporate leadership.
Inheritance laws are deeply entwined with personal religious beliefs, drawing on ancient texts that afforded women minimal rights. At a time when women shoulder equal responsibilities in both familial and societal spheres, it is unacceptable that their prospects for asset building and prosperity be dashed in the name of narrow, misconstrued interpretations of the scripture.
While many religions have unequal sharing of inherited property, no faith forbids -- or incapacitates -- property owners from distributing their wealth equally among heirs.
How, then, can anyone in their right mind claim that keeping a unified, civil option open -- allowing freedom in inheritance -- runs counter to religious tenets?
One cannot willfully ignore the real impediments women in our society face every day due to limited access to land ownership. Women with little or no land are deemed not finance-worthy, not credit-worthy.
They are denied adequate financing and thus fail to reach their full potential in wealth building. They become trapped in a cycle of deprivation: Without inherited wealth, they cannot create more wealth.
It’s not just a loss for these women -- it’s a loss for our national economy.
Reaz Ahmad is Editor, Dhaka Tribune.