This is a guest post by FLAVIA AGNES

I am responding to the sense of despair expressed by some women’s groups and more specifically to the press conference called by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA)  to condemn the judgment of the Delhi High Court which permitted a minor (almost 16-year old) girl to marry the man of her choice rather than restore her back to her parental authority.  In their campaign for codification of Muslim law, BMMA has asked for laying down 18 as the minimum age of  marriage for girls (and 21 for boys), the underlying presumption being that all underage marriages must be declared as void.

Before we come up with a knee jerk response to the hype created by the media and bite the bait,  we need to have greater clarity on whose side we (feminists) are batting in this confrontation between  parental authority and the active  agency expressed by a teenaged girl. Also I wish to raise a connecting question — if the Muslim law was codified and minimum age for marriage was stipulated, as has been done under the Hindu Marriage Act, would the High Court have responded differently?  Would the judges have sent the girl back to her parental custody?  And the last question – could that have been construed as a ‘progressive ruling’ by us, those claiming to be “feminists”? Continue reading Consent, Age and Agency: reflections on the recent Delhi High Court judgement on minors and marriage: Flavia Agnes →