Your
Advocate
This
week your advocate is M. Moazzam Husain of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
His professional interests include civil law, criminal law and constitutional
law.
Q:
After a hard struggle, the mysterious girl managed to make the engagement
in families level. Hopefully we are going to marry next month. The problem
now arising that she wants to bring some household goods as gift. Her
family also has the same strong desire. On the other hand, I hold the
spirit of non-consumestic nature and considering the gifts as dowry
in my critical views. I don't have a luxurious house to fit them in
as well. The question is "Is there any legal mechanism, so that
I might prevent her and her family to providing the gifts (or Dowry)
with?"
Zakir Hossain, East Sujankathi, Goila, Agailjhara,
Barisal
Your
Advocate: You must be passing through most exciting moments
of your life. I wish your dream come true on schedule in a ceremonies
way. In your case the words ' legal mechanism to prevent upcoming gifts'
sound a note of discord and derogate from the natural course of human
conduct. Let the bride set her foot in her matrimonial home with the
accessories of life having the touch of love and affection of her near
and dear ones. Why should you look at each and every thing that comes
along from ethical standpoint. One should not be as sensitive to gifts
from the bride's family as to hurt the feeling of affectionate minds
and prevent natural flow of love and affection. Law and morality are
not as unkind as to interfere with natural flow of human love and emotions.
Law seeks to prevent
dower that has emerged as a curse in our society and tend to break up
marriage-deal on account of failure to satisfy the demand of the bridegroom
or his guardians by the father or other guardians of the bride. Hands
of law is extended to any demand of dowry in post-marriage days as well.
This has to do with demand of money and/or goods 'in consideration for
marriage' which, in more cases than not, comes in as precondition for
marriage.
Your
case seems to be far from that. Of course, I do not mean by all these
that you should not look into the constraint, if any, of your would-be
relatives in giving any gift. Constraints direct or indirect of the
bride's family in making gifts do not square the sense I am trying to
make. If it is free from any kind of constraint and truly spontaneous
law has no mechanism to prevent the transactions. If you still feel
uncomfortable with the sense of prospective gifts you can at best try
to prevent the same by persuasions not by ethical references.
Wish you happy conjugal life in advance.
Corresponding
Law Desk
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