A voluntary organisation -- Save Family Foundation -- has decided to observe November 19 as International Men's Day with a view to recognise the valuable contribution made by men.
The foundation also has some demands like establishing a Ministry for Men's Welfare and protection for men against verbal, emotional, economic, physical and sexual abuse at home and at work place.
"While men still perform some of the most risky and challenging jobs in the society and while the government collects 82 per cent of its tax revenue from men, not a single rupee has been allocated for their welfare in the last 60 years," the foundation said.
Interestingly, the foundation says that increasing number of men are losing employment and more and more women are entering the job market, defying their traditional role within the family and society.
"Nevertheless, the society is refusing to free men of their traditional duties of protecting and providing for women, children and the aged," it said.
"In addition, men are being subjected to severe discrimination under law and their basic human rights are violated everyday in the name of more and more legal provisions that claim to empower and protect women," it said.
Because of increasing disregard and hatred, men are preferring to end their lives, SFF said.
As per the suicide data of National Crime Control Bureau (NCCB), number of suicides by males in every age group outweighs the number of suicides by females in recent years. In 2005, 52,483 married men committed suicide as against 28,186 suicides by married women, it said.
D-day is here. Tomorrow, the country’s ‘oppressed and abused’ men will celebrate International Men’s Day for the first time. Their top demand from the government: “set up a ministry for men’s welfare”.
“We will submit a memorandum urging the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi to set up such a ministry,” says Swarup Sarkar of the Save Family Foundation (SFF), which has declared November 19 as International Men’s Day along with organisations such as My Nation, Protect Indian Family and Asha-Kiran. International chapters of Save Family Foundation will make a similar request at the Indian embassies in the UK, the US, Australia and the Mid-East.
“The government gets 82 per cent of its taxes from men, but not a rupee has been allocated for men’s welfare in the budget in 60 years,” says SFF activist Neeraj Aggarwal.
The organisations have also been protesting against the misuse of dowry and domestic violence laws. “Men’s Day isn’t just about men,” says Prem Ahuja, wife of a men’s rights activist, and herself a men’s group member. She adds, “Many senior citizens are being harassed, abused and blackmailed by their daughters-in-law in the name of dowry.” On Monday, men activists will visit such elderly ‘victims’ of the dowry law in Tihar Jail and distribute woollen clothes among them.
The event will also be marked in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai. In Bangalore, the organisation plans to declare it a dry day.
NEW DELHI: Marking the International Men's Day, a group of men on Monday urged the government to set up a separate ministry for their protection against abuse at home and work place.
The men, who celebrated the day for the first time under the aegis of 'Save Family Foundation' (SFF), submitted a memorandum to this effect to President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
"All laws meant for the protection of women in India are gender biased. It is high time that ministry for men's welfare was set up in India," Swaroop Sarkar, coordinator of the Foundation told.
"As per data of the Crime Bureau of India over 72,000 men commit suicide every year. Suicide of married men is much higher than that of married women. Indian men have no legal protection," he said.
The memorandum claimed that men contribute for 82 per cent of the total revenue to the government, but get nothing in return.
The Foundation rued that increasing number of men are losing jobs to the fairer sex.
"Nevertheless, the society is refusing to free man of his traditional duties of protecting and providing shelter for women, children and the aged," it said.
Men want separate ministry for protection against abuse The Hindu News.
New Delhi (PTI): Marking the International Men's Day, a group of men on Monday urged the government to set up a separate ministry for their protection against abuse at home and work place.
The men, who celebrated the day for the first time under the aegis of 'Save Family Foundation' (SFF), submitted a memorandum to this effect to President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
"All laws meant for the protection of women in India are gender biased. It is high time that ministry for men's welfare was set up in India," Swaroop Sarkar, coordinator of the Foundation told PTI.
"As per data of the Crime Bureau of India over 72,000 men commit suicide every year. Suicide of married men is much higher than that of married women. Indian men have no legal protection," he said.
The memorandum claimed that men contribute for 82 per cent of the total revenue to the government, but get nothing in return.
The Foundation rued that increasing number of men are losing jobs to the fairer sex.
"Nevertheless, the society is refusing to free man of his traditional duties of protecting and providing shelter for women, children and the aged," it said.
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| Monday, November 19, 2007 18:44 [IST] |
New Delhi: Claiming men perform some of the riskiest jobs and that the government collects 82 per cent of its tax revenue from them, a men's organisation today demanded a ministry dedicated to the welfare and protection of their gender. Aggrieved at what they say is discrimination against them, a group of men under the aegis of Save Family Foundation celebrated the International Men's Day today and wanted that a ministry be set up for their welfare and protection against verbal, emotional, economic, physical and sexual abuse at home and at work place. The Foundation submitted a memorandum to this effect to President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. "All laws meant for the protection of women in India are gender biased. It is high time that a ministry for men's welfare should be set up in India," Swaroop Sarkar, coordinator of the Foundation, said. "As per data of Crime Bureau of India more than 72,000 men commit suicide every year. Suicides by married men are higher than those by married women. Indian men have no legal protection," Sarkar added. Interestingly, the foundation claims that increasing number of men are losing employment and more women are entering the job market, defying their "traditional" role within the family and society. "Nevertheless, society is refusing to free men of their traditional duties of protecting and providing for women, children and the aged," it said. Source : PTI |
Claiming men are subjected to severe discrimination under law and their basic rights are violated every day, a group of men activists on International Men's Day Monday demanded a separate department be set up to deal with 'crimes against men'.
The activists observed International Men's Day for the first time in the country and submitted a memorandum to the offices of the prime minister and the home minister, urging for the setting up of a 'Ministry for Men's Welfare'.
'Men perform some of the most risky and challenging jobs in society and while the government of India collects 82 percent of its tax revenues from men, not a single rupee has been allocated in the name of men's welfare in the budget in the last 60 years,' said Swarup Sarkar, an activist with Save India Family Foundation, an NGO.
'An increasing number of men are losing employment, more women are entering the job market and defying their traditional roles within the family and the society. Nevertheless, the society is refusing to free men of their traditional duties of protecting and providing for women, children and the aged.
'In addition, men are being subjected to severe discrimination under law and their basic human rights are being violated every day in the name of more and more legal provisions that claim to empower and protect women,' Sarkar added.
International chapters of Save Family Foundation will make a similar request at the Indian embassies in Britain, the US, Australia and the Mid-East.
Neeraj Aggarwal, another activist, said thousands of men are becoming victims of 'legal terrorism' unleashed through the misuse of the Indian Penal Code section 498 A, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, adultery laws, laws against rape and sexual harassment, and even laws pertaining to divorce, maintenance and child custody.
According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), the number of suicides by males in every age group studied outweighs the number of suicides by females, in the recent years.
'In the year 2005 alone, nearly twice as many married men - 52,483 - compared to married women - 28,186 - committed suicide unable to withstand verbal, emotional, economic and physical abuse and legal harassment,' Aggarwal said.
Sarkar added: 'The NCRB figures suggest that only two percent of 120,000 men arrested in the country under dowry charges are being convicted, which suggests that a large number of men are implicated in false cases.'
A well-known woman activist, dismayed at the men activists' demands, remarked: 'Though anti-dowry laws and domestic violence acts are tough, and sometimes men become victims of them, but it largely helps women get justice in a male-dominated society.'
'The NCRB data also shows that in this vast billion-plus nation, 25 violent crimes take place every hour, 59 housewives commit suicide every day, and two rapes, four murders, 10 culpable homicides and one dowry death occur on an hourly basis,' she said.
The activist said that crimes against women always remain very high in comparison to those against men, and such demands should not be accepted.
(Staff Writer, © IANS)
KalingaTimes.com: Now, Indian men seek justice!
While 'women's empowerment' is becoming an attractive political catchphrase, a group of organisations today mustered the audacity to claim that males in India are also being discriminated against in various spheres, including employment.
'Save Family Organisation'(SFO), an NGO, and its sibling organisations, while giving a call to observe November 19 as 'International Men's Day', quoted a report of the Labour and Employment Ministry to assert that during the years 2001-05, men employed in the public and private sectors lost 14,000 jobs while women gained 1,00,000 jobs during the same period. ''While an increasing number of men are losing employment, more women are entering the job market and defying their traditional roles within the family and society,'' it said in a statement. In addition, men are being subjected to severe discrimination under law and their basic human rights are being violated everyday in the name of more and more legal provisions that claim to empower and protect women, it alleged.
The statement may sound ironical when viewed against the backdrop of the statement made by a Punjab minister yersterday that women can be bought at a price less than that of a buffalo.
While discrimination against women has been an obnoxious social reality of both the traditional India and the India on the upswing, 'Save Family Organisation' alleged that thousands of men are becoming victims of ''legal terrorism'' unleashed by the misuse of certain sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act, adultery laws and divorce, maintenance and child custody laws. ''To make things worse, male members of a family, regardless of their age, health or marital status, are arrested based on unsubstantiated allegations of dowry harassment and domestic abuse, and are subjected to long-drawn trials,'' SFO activist Wasif Ali said. He claimed while men perform some of the most risky and challenging jobs in society and contributing 82 per cent of the government's tax revenue, ''not a single rupee has been allocated in the name of men's welfare in the country's budget in the last 60 years''. While claiming that the growing disregard and hatred against men in Indian society is forcing many Indian men to end their lives, it quoted the statistics of the National Crime Bureau to contend that the number of suicides by males in every age group outweighed the number of those by females.
In the year 2005 alone, the NGO said nearly twice as many married men (52,483), comparted to married women (28,186) committed suicides, unable to withstand verbal, emotional, economic and physical abuse and legal harassment.
The SFO also demanded that the government should establish a ''Ministry of Men's Welfare' to cater to men's needs in the changing society and end the 'legal terrorism' perpetrated through the misuse of 'anti-male, anti-family laws.' Further, civil and criminal laws should be gender-neutral and Article 51A (e) of the Constitution be amended to read ''...to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women'' (and also men, as opposed to just women).
Another demand of the organisation is that custody of a child should be given jointly to both spouses upon dissolution of marriage and make provisions to punish those who abuse the judicial process, irrespective of gender.
-- (UNI) --
Men want separate ministry for protection against abuse - MSN ...New Delhi: Marking the International Men's Day, a group of men today urged the government to set up a separate ministry for their protection against abuse at home and work place.
The men, who celebrated the day for the first time under the aegis of the 'Save Family Foundation' (SFF), submitted a memorandum to this effect to President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
"All laws meant for the protection of women in India are gender biased. It is high time that a ministry for men's welfare was set up in India," Swaroop Sarkar, coordinator of the Foundation told PTI.
"As per data of the Crime Bureau of India over 72,000 men commit suicide every year. Suicide of married men is much higher than that of married women. Indian men have no legal protection," he said.
The memorandum claimed that men contribute for 82 per cent of the total revenue to the government, but get nothing in return.
The Foundation rued that increasing number of men are losing jobs to the fairer sex.
"Nevertheless, the society is refusing to free man of his traditional duties of protecting and providing shelter for women, children and the aged," it said.
Source: PTI
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