Your
Advocate
Q:
May I ask you the question that whether parents have any legal right
to forcefully decide over the marriage of their adult son or daughter?
What legal action could be taken to prevent parents from arranging the
marriage of their daughter without her consent? Is there any law in
our country concerning this?
I'll be obliged if you let me know. If you think this as a question
worthy to answer, I believe many people will be glad to know the answer.
Sincerely,
-Kanta
On E-mail
Your
Advocate: Your thought seems to have taken a new dimension
and bears a testimony of rebelliousness against our long standing social
values. In the advanced societies of the West individualism has reached
such a stage that the parents and teachers are even taken to account
for a bit of excess in controlling their children or in birching a bit
for their good. Therefore, children and youths in those societies enjoy
much greater personal freedom in all respects. In our society, by contrast,
parental and social control is much stricter, some times unnecessarily
cruel and egoistically oppressive. The questions of egoism and cruelty
apart, so far as the question of controlling children are concerned,
I must confess I am still confused as to which one is better- the western
permissiveness or our possessiveness. It is no denying that the two
social contexts are different. So it is difficult to come a conclusion
straightway. My mind still dwells on the idea that middle course is
possibly the best.
The spontaneous
words came in because, after all, we are after laws and actions against
the excesses of our parents, admittedly our best well-wishers on earth.
You cannot deny that their concern about you, even if irrational, is
not obsessively directed to your good. In that sense the dilemma of
father-daughter feud on marriage does hardly conform the purpose of
legal actions since the parties don't have conflicting interest or any
guilty mind.
Legal answer of your question is not far to seek. The answers of your
plain questions are: no one can interfere with, encross upon, derogate
from or infringe the lawful rights of any other in any manner whatsoever
save strictly in accordance with law. You as an adult (supposedly 18
or above) are absolutely competent to contract marriage for yourself
to the exclusion or disregard of anyone else's opinion, choice or pressure.
Your choice is unfettered. The fact that the persons standing on your
way happen to be your parents doesn't make any difference.
Parenthood by itself
does not confer upon individuals any special legal rights whatsoever
to interfere with the personal choice of their sons or daughters, far
less, applying force in making decisions or arranging marriage against
their consent. Yes, there is law to prevent them from making or attempting
to make encrossment upon your exclusive rights. Law is blind and doesn't
know who are parents and who are not. Forget for the moment that they
are your parents you get the law. The prevailing law which are applicable
to others are equally applicable to your parents. Technically the relationship
of the parties is of no consequence in the present circumstances. There
is no nor is there any necessity of law as against the parents only
so far as the present issue is concerned. The prevailing laws are enough
to prevent anyone from interfering with the lawful rights of others
irrespective of interrelationship between the parties.
Above everything
one should keep in mind law is like a bamboo-stick, though equally menacing
to all, is not kept for using against one's own family or friends for
any difference of choice or opinion with them. It has definitive purposes.
Parents may legitimately cherish dream of their own to be materialized
through their children. If it is impossible to go by their choice you
need not conceive of legal action rather it would be most advisable
for you as their child to devise things in a away so as to hurt them
the least.
Your
Advocate M. Moazzam Husain is a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
His professional interests include civil law, criminal law and constitutional
law.
Corresponding
with the Law Desk
Please send your mails, queries, and opinions to: Law Desk, The
Daily Star 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215; telephone 8124944,8124955,fax
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