Social Reform with a Nationalist Agenda: The Sarda Act of 1929

Abstract

On September 20th 1929, the Indian Central Legislative Assembly passed the Sarda Act. The Sarda Act was the result of ongoing discussions in India in the early twentieth century that revolved around the age of consent and the age of marriage. Har Bilas Sarda, a member of the Assembly since 1924, introduced the bill in 1927 as the Child Marriage Restraint Act. In history, this bill is celebrated for improving the living conditions for women in Colonial India by addressing the potentially negative physical and social effects that having sex and giving birth could have on young girls. However, what is not discussed in history is the motivations that Har Bilas Sarda had in introducing the bill. Using primary sources, I would like to argue that the Sarda Act was part of a larger nationalist agenda espoused by a Hindu nationalist group called the Arya Samaj which aimed to restore the legacy of the ancient Hindu civilization. I will conclude by linking the themes in Sarda’s writings with the broader historical context to demonstrate that that Sarda’s motivations for campaigning for a higher age of marriage was tied to a Hindu nationalist agenda.