Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

In the Name of the Community 197
the term ‘bride-price’ for marriage gifts on the grounds that even the
girl’s family have to reciprocate with gifts for the bridegroom’s family. A
related problem is that of child marriage. In some cases, parents of girl
children take the bride price in advance and the girl is ‘booked’ for marriage.
Such a practice obviously denies the basic rights of the girl. There
are indications, though, that this practice is on the decline.
In many communities in Arunachal Pradesh, polygamy has been in
practice for a long time. Although we do not have dependable data on the
proportion of polygamous marriages in the state, informed observers
feel that the system is dying out. However, a ‘new polygamy’ can be seen in
recent years, where polygamy is fast becoming a status symbol among
the neo-rich and the elite. Women’s groups in the state have voiced concerns
about the rise of such cases among the educated elite. However,
such protests are always brushed aside by the elites who state that polygamy
is part of the tradition of tribal communities and is also sanctioned
according to community laws.
There is a great deal of variation in the traditional community laws
governing the lives of people in rural areas of the state. Many of these
laws affect women’s well-being and rights. In recent years, there have been
attempts to codify these laws. However, some women activists feel that
there is an urgent need for careful codification of these laws in the light
of the changing social context and gender justice. In spite of their best
efforts to influence the outcomes, the process of codification will definitely
open up a new arena of struggle for the traditionalists and those advocating
basic human rights for women and others. 19
Evidence from different parts of the world suggest that the transition
from collective to private ownership over land usually results in
the concentration of private ownership over resources in the hands of the
men. Arunachal Pradesh has been undergoing this transition during
the last few decades. As there has been no cadastral survey in the state, it
is difficult to estimate the pattern of ownership over land. 20 Moreover,
access to land is governed and monitored by the village communities
with little interference from the state machinery, notwithstanding the
recent efforts to codify land ownership and management laws. Given
women’s marginalised position in the traditional community-based
institutions, women get disinherited as community resources, particularly