IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 20, Issue 12, Ver. II (Dec. 2015) PP 10-24 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0837-201221024 www.iosrjournals.org 10 | Page Customary Laws over land & land rights of women in Haryana Paroma Sen 1 1 (Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India) Abstract: This paper looks into the influence of institutional changes in changing the influence of customary laws over land rights in Haryana, India. The issue of land rights here mainly focuses on the rights of women over agricultural land as an absolute owner. Despite changes in the succession acts, especially Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 the state laws of Haryana remained impermeable to these changes. It was the state land laws and policies that continued to have an overarching impact on the land rights of women. This contradiction gave rise to two different societies being forcibly merged without any harmony for a sustainable growth. In order to delve into the issue of impact of land rights on women the analysis was based on case laws of the High Court of Haryana and Supreme Court. The cases analysed were cases of land reforms, inheritance rights, land acquisition etc. And to find out whether these changes influenced the social set-up at the micro-level, a census survey was conducted in a village, close to Gurgaon in Haryana. Through my analysis of land laws in Haryana, this work concludes that legislative changes have not been able to secure ownership rights of women over land. Keywords: land; customary laws; gender; inheritance; hindu law I. Introduction The process of evolution of society from primitive to modern was shaped by the continuous dominance of customs which gave rise to gender divide and inequality. Despite changes in economic demands of the society and statutory laws confirming this change, rules of customs/customary laws, both implicitly and explicitly, tried to shape the „social‟ strictly on the basis of customs. Thus, private ordering of rules within society carried the burden of the past. And customary rules/laws attributed to this ordering by providing a framework for human conduct on the one hand, and giving rise to the gender divide on the other. This order could be/has been imposed through land relations. India struggled to reach a consensus over removing the gender divide imposed by customs and supported by the political class as an act of balancing different power centres within society. From pre-colonial to colonial and post-colonial times, legal shifts and non-religious interference met orthodox resistance. As a result, the selective changes in law- family law- ended up protecting the interest of certain sections of the society over others. This selective practice of changing laws dates back to the pre-colonial period, where dominance of Dharmashastras i in influencing the social structure based on caste and gender prejudices supported the growth of customary laws within different enclaves. Unlike other regions, individuals in Haryana were first determined by the identity of their agricultural tribe over the religion they followed. Embedded in an agricultural economy, determined by customs to suit the political economy of the region, Hindu law could not shape the society and community here. Through the codification of the customary laws of Punjab and Haryana the colonial state ensured unhindered political control. Codification of customs in the colonial period led to traditions taking the shape of law, later referred to as the customary laws of the region. Codification of customary laws then became the basis of governing the region which remained impermeable to gender equality legislated under Hindu law. This protected the land relations, supported the dominant castes and became the basis of political mobilisation in the state. Where men were allowed to have absolute control over land, women were only given limited ownership rights over it. Based on their age, marital status, class and experiences; ownership over land differed for women. Despite several changes in the Hindu Law over time, customs were not completely overridden in Haryana. In the post-colonial period leaders continued the tradition of following customary laws without any modification. Customs shaped the society showing an explicit unwillingness to accept changes in the land laws made under the land reforms to bequeathing equal rights to women under Hindu Succession Act 1956 and its further changes in 2005. However, an interesting paradox continued to prevail in the region which while protecting its age old tradition was open to changes of urbanisation that guaranteed huge investments in land. Customary perspectives dominated the social and political scene while the economic changes were allowed to transform the economy from agro-based to an industrial one equipped with development plans for model townships. This contradiction gave rise to two different societies being forcibly merged without any harmony for a sustainable growth. Issues of land and land rights emerged in the changing political economy of the region,