With a heavyweight star like Amitabh Bachchan announcing that he wishes to split his assets equally between his son and daughter after he’s gone, not only B-town but also common men and women in India have taken notice of the issue of equal property distribution.
In a country like India, it is not uncommon for ancestral property or assets to go to the male heir, as opposed to it being distributed equally among the children in the family. Besides Bachchan, who is leading by example, more celebrities are coming out and lending their support to the cause of treating men and women equally.
Take for example, Aamir Khan. In December, the actor delivered what is one of Bollywood’s biggest hits, Dangal, which propagated the empowerment of the girl child, especially with his now-famous dialogue, “Mhari choriyan choron se kam hai ke? (Are my girls any less than boys?)” Now, the actor has become the face of a Hindi channel’s social advertisement, that shows him in an extension of his Dangal character, lauding praises on his two daughters, who help him run his business.
Even as debate around how to take equal property rights rages on, Bollywood personalities have come out to laud Big B’s move to distribute his wealth equally between Shweta Bachchan Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan. “I fully agree with Mr Bachchan,” says filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, who himself has a son and a daughter — Hrithik and Sunaina. “The parents’ wealth must be divided equally between the son and the daughter.”
Bengaluru-based wildlife conservationist, and author, Saad Bin Jung who has two children, Zoha and Shaaz
“I am married as per the laws of India, registry in Hyderabad with the magistrate, twice to the same lady, my beautiful wife Sangeeta. Both my children Zoha and Shaaz will get equal inheritance in all our family property, jewellery and businesses. Both my wife and I have always treated our daughter and son equally and never showed any discrimination in any way. With my family, the biggest problem is that the parents in most old families, especially royalty, more often than not, use their inheritance to control their children. This always leads to division and resentment in their progeny. I have worked hard to ensure that this does not happen with my children, Shaaz and Zoha. Both my children will get equal share.
