International Context

Getting into Rajiv Gandhi’s Gucci shoes may be facilitated by a brief discussion of these issues in international context. It is important to note that the persistence of personal laws in India is not an anomaly but rather a situation that faces people in a variety of countries around the world. Moreover, the broader issues and dilemmas raised by the case are faced by citizens of an even wider range of countries, including the United States. Since the British developed many of their colonial practices in India and later applied them in other parts of their empire, the idea of maintaining personal or customary laws persists in many former British colonies. For example, post Apartheid South Africa has recently put in place a constitution which is quite progressive for women, yet also recognizes some customary marriage laws. Those married under customary laws may face disadvantages similar to those faced by many women in India. Nigeria, in its recent transition to democracy, is facing tensions and dilemmas as certain parts of the Muslim dominated north are adopting Muslim legal codes, which worries local residents of other religions.

Moreover, the persistence of community laws within a legal system is not unique to the “third world.” Marriage and divorce laws are hardly “uniform” in the United States either, since they vary from state to state, by communities defined geographically rather than religiously. Another parallel worth considering is that reservations for Native Americans have been granted some limited legal autonomy in the US context. US cases raise issues that have parallels to other aspects of the Shah Bano dilemma, such as debates over state interference in personal, marital issues in historical and contemporary interracial or same sex marriage cases. Cases pitting the freedom of religion versus the well being of an individual also abound, as in cases in which parental religious beliefs preclude medical treatment of their kids. In short, the dilemmas raised by Shah Bano are not unique to Islam, India or the Third World, but have parallels to debates right here and now.