PRESS RELEASE

Subject: Men’s Rights Activists are dismayed at lack of political will to protect men

Activists fighting for men’s rights have expressed extreme amount of displeasure and dismay at the Cabinet’s decision on the rape law.

Background:

The discussion around the rape law gained ground after all media channels unanimously hyped a single case of Delhi gang-rape (December 16, 2012) and made it a national issue inciting public emotions against the male gender and accusing the Government not doing enough to protect women. This was despite the already existing toughly anti-male rape laws and 15 other laws targeted specifically against men which were draconian, barbaric and unconstitutional in nature.

Bowing down to the pressure from the feminist dominated media, the Govt. formed a committee under retired judge Justice Verma whose recommendations sought to convert every intra-gender (male-female) transaction into a non-bailable offense, punishable at the whim and fancy of the woman. All this was done under cute names like stalking, voyeurism, eve-teasing etc. Every definition of crime was not only vague but one-sided. None of the definitions included abuse of men by women.

However, on 3rd February 2013, the Government passed an Ordinance called the Rape Ordinance which identified a wide variety of sexual assaults affecting both the genders and passed a gender neutral ordinance which covered male victims of sexual assault as well. This was a historic move wherein, for the first time in the history of India, a gender neutral law was passed which recognized the abuse of men as well and sought to protect them.

The Shocker:

However, the feminist and the feminist dominated media were extremely unhappy about men being protected and created a lot of hue and cry over the Ordinance being gender neutral and sought to nullify it calling it anti-women.

And the shocker came on the 11th of March 2013, whence the Government actually did a U-Turn, reverting back the bill being gender biased and anti-male, renaming it as the “Anti-Rape Law” instead of erstwhile “Sexual Assault Bill”, leaving male victims of such offenses high and dry.

The consequences:

While, as we all know, it won’t be the case that with the passage of this yet another anti-male law, which does not cater to the problems of the male world, the lives of men are suddenly going to become risky.

Lives of men have always been risky as primarily it is the men who undertake huge risks in order to ensure cultural, technological and societal progress and selflessly men have lost their lives for the same, be it war or adventure or scientific inventions.

Whether it is a case of 5 army-men losing their lives attempting to safeguard the borders of India or a couple of fishermen losing their lives accidentally as they undertake daily risk of fishing in troubled waters in order to eke out a livelihood.

It’s just that, with this law, the lives of men are going to become riskier as now the streets have become extremely dangerous for men as now,

1. Any man who gets entangled with a woman in any sort of argument, which can be due to the woman’s fault or provoked by her will be converted into a false case of stalking or voyeurism and the man would be immediately arrested. For no fault of his, the man would be fighting a frivolous criminal battle.
2. Male victims of feminine sexual aggression, female sex offenders and female rapists would be embroiled in false rape cases wherein the perpetrator of the crime and the victim of the crime would just swap roles.
3. Boys facing sexual assault, inappropriate touch, and sexual oppression from girls and adult female relatives including Ayaahs would continue to face the horror and grow up with an impaired psychology which will affect their quality of life at every stage. It may potentially increase criminal bent of mind in such boys as they grow up to become men and this could rather increase the crime in the society than decreasing it.
4. Small political parties like Maharastra Navnirman Sena, Samajawadi Party, Bahujan Samajwadi Party will face greater risks as their male political cadre could be trapped in false cases of stalking and eve-teasing by opposite parties, especially big and powerful political parties, and this could be a serious blow to the political roadmap of these small parties, who now have no option but to listen to UPA 2.
5. Increase of false cases of rape, molestation, stalking, voyeurism, etc. and the subsequent jailing and harassment of innocent men would contribute towards the growing element of Gynophobia (fear of women). This would result in men shying away from women and mingling with them. In fact, already the helplines of men’s rights activists have started ringing with queries like, “Is it OK to refuse to escort a woman at night?”, “Is it OK to refuse to a movie with a woman at night?”, etc.
6. This will also affect the voting pattern as men’s rights activists have vowed not to vote and to discourage others from voting for either anti-male MPs or for those political parties who did not support the gender neutrality of the bill. They’d rather people to vote for independents or for parties like SP, BSP and the Trinamool Congress.

The Problems:

It was extremely disheartening to see that the Government was bowing down before a few women organizations and backed out on its decision to provide the society with a gender neutral law. It is pertinent to mention here that the electorate of India has not voted for these women organizations, whosoever they may be.

The electorate of India has voted the UPA 2 Government to power and wrested the power of law-making in their hands and it becomes the duty of the UPA 2 Government to ensure a safe and free society for all citizens irrespective of caste, religions, sex and creed. Even the constitution of India, vide Article 14, guarantees the same. And hence, this regressive step of removing gender neutrality from the law is an unconstitutional step by UPA 2 in the event of its failure to contain the anti-male women organizations filled with male hatred.

Demands:

1. The Houses must not pass the gender-biased version of the bill and must send it back to the Standing Committee for further review.
2. As the Justice Verma Committee totally ignored the presentations sent by the various men’s rights groups, the said Standing Committee should invite these groups and take their views into consideration.
3. The bill must not be passed in the absence of a strong misuse clause to prevent false cases from becoming yet another industry of extortion and revenge.
4. Government must form National Commission for Men and Men Welfare Ministry in order to avoid such last minute hassles and rushes in law making.
5. Only Gender Neutral laws must be passed.
6. Women organizations with vested interests and partisan agenda must not be encouraged to such an extent that they can literally hijack the law-making process.

We end this press release with an end-note of caution that more and more anti-male laws will lead to rise in crime in the society, choice belies with the Government whether to heed to the warning or face the consequences.

Seeking ‘equality’ with women, men protest marriage law bill

 Several men and women from different groups demanded a rollback of Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, which proposes to introduce automatic property annexation from men. 

This amendment will recognise a wife’s right to property acquired by her spouse during their marriage. Men who are going through the divorce process demand that the word ‘husband’ in this amendment clause should be replaced with ‘spouse’ so both parties may have a right to oppose. The Union Cabinet has approved the draft Marriage Laws (Amendment), Bill, 2010, likely to be tabled in Parliament soon.

Several men’s rights groups are opposing these “women-centric” amendments in the Marriage Law, as they are not happy with the idea of parting with their property after divorce.

“We had submitted some suggestions to the Law Minister and the parliamentary committee as well but they did not take them into consideration. That is why we decided to oppose the bill,” said Swarup Sarkar, founder member of Save Family Foundation. 
 
“The financial benefit should be linked with the number of years a couple is married for. According to it, a husband cannot oppose the wife’s allegations,” he added. 
Kumar V Jahgirdar, founder and president of the Bangalore-based Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting aid the bill does not deal with issues like custody of children and visitation rights.

“It is based on the flawed presumption that the child is best taken care of by the mother. But children are going to be major losers if this bill is passed in the absence of a father,” he said. 

Memorandum on Marriage Law (Amendment) Bill 2010

To,                             

Hon’ble Law Minister,

Mr Salman Khurshid,

Respected Sir,

This is a memorandum regarding our strong objection to the present format of Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, as being myopic, unconstitutional, undemocratic and discriminatory. This Bill will be major vote bank issue in the coming elections, if passed in the present format, without any national debate on the same.

Save Family Foundation is a forum with various groups working under it for the cause of helping men dealing with issues related to family and marital problems. We comprise of families fighting against all laws that aggravate marital disputes, promote abuse of the elderly, violate basic human rights of men-women-children, precipitate family break-ups, facilitate the knowledge sharing against misuse of the laws and work against those who promote a fatherless society. With the increasing misuse of Anti-Men laws (98% false cases), our reach is increasing every moment with current direct or indirect reach to over 4 Lakh people across India.

By this memorandum, we present our strong objection to the controversial clauses of MARRIAGE LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2010, which had been introduced on 04-Aug-10 in the Rajya Sabha and recently received the Cabinet nod, making “Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage (IrBM)” as another ground for divorce. The Bill contained clauses that facilitated financial extortion of men.

The Bill has a few very controversial clauses which are totally anti-family and anti-husband, namely:

1.    The wife can oppose the divorce under IrBM, based on ground of financial hardship, while the husband can not, which goes against the principles of natural justice and contrary to laws all over the world [constitution provides right to defend even to dreaded terrorist/accused, this being denied to Indian Husbands would make mockery of Indian Society] .

2.    The Bill talks of division of ONLY husband’s marital property, and is totally silent on division of wife’s marital property. The Bill says that courts would have power not to grant the divorce unless the wife was paid adequate amount of money under the cute name of “Financial Security of Woman”.

3.    In a marital discord where the dispute is not settled by mutual consent between both the parties, generally the victim applies to annul the marriage and the defaulter has to respond to it. But this law gives the power, of applying for annulment of the marriage through divorce, for the person who could have been himself/herself a defaulter in the marriage.

4.    With the current “Hindu Marriage Act” already covering the Divorce under the clause of “Desertion of minimum 2 years”, adding another law under the name of IrBM having the same period of separation as a condition, is a Duplicate law with no constitutional standing.

Brief Background:

Such clauses being outright anti-male and gender-biased in nature were vehemently opposed by various men’s rights activists and organizations, who even deposed in front of the Standing Committee on personnel, public grievances, law and justice. The panel, presented with the objections raised by men’s rights organizations who sought to make the bill gender-neutral and ensure that no man faced any kind of financial hardship because of gender-biased clauses in the bill.

Oppositions ignored:

However, the objections raised by men’s rights organizations have been conveniently ignored by the standing committee panel.

Cabinet passed the bill:

The cabinet approved bill, when marriage breaks irretrievably,

§  Makes husband to part with his self earned property when wife opposes divorce

§  Discriminates husband from opposing Divorce even in the interest of his biological children just because he is a male.

§  Is deliberately destroying marriages and promoting Divorces by providing property rights only when wife divorces and not when she is married.

§  Would encourage high society, (rich, politicians, judges, bureaucratic and business class) wives to take divorce route on simple marital discords at the instance of rivals/adversaries just to get enriched.

§  Would ensure that no men/father shall have access to his child both biological and adopted child.

§  Would induce men to live in debt rather than save in properties

§  Would force men to PAY to BUY Divorce thereby making the institution of marriage into glorified prostitution as a Post-Paid Service.

§  This is against Article 14 on equality against right to property.

After the recent announcement in media that the cabinet has passed this bill, we are getting plenty of panic calls on our helplines from husbands. Young professionals, who have taken huge loans to buy property, are the hardest hit if their property goes to wife during divorce. Most of them are on a "Cancellation Spree" after the cabinet decision to give property of husbands to wives. Banks will also start denying the home loan to married men as their loan amount will be at risk if the couple is going through divorce, directly affecting the GDP and economy of our country. We already have multiple Panic SOS sent to banks by MALE Asset Owners asking about the penalties of defaulting.

We implore upon you to ponder

§  Why confer property rights to women at the time of divorce when woman already have five draconian alimony provisions in various laws both while married and after divorce?

§  Is it safe to handover to the court, discretion to decide on the volume of share when there is no judicial accountability and transparency with certain section of lawyers claiming fiefdom over family courts (total disobedience  for sec 13 of Family Courts Act)

§  Is this bill for wife or lawyers? While 10-20% share of the asset is claimed as fee by certain section of the lawyers? Who is victim defined under ‘grave financial hardship’ is it the lawyer or the wife? It could become an easy nexus of Property grabing tactics with easy divorce filing by women, getting Property as a “benefit” of Divorce and then parting a bit of that property with Lawyers. India is about witness the biggest ever series of MARITAL SCAMS under the cover of PAID DIVORCES.

§  According to NCRB data, there have been 61,453 suicides of married men. This category sees the highest number of suicides and the figure is accelerating at a rapid pace every year. http://ncrb.nic.in/ADSI2010/ADSI2010-full-report.pdf (Page 183). The general reasoning for the situation of married men committing suicide is attributed to economic hardship. In that case increasing the financial burden on men alone and holding them alone accountable for a marital breakdown will only increase the tendency in men to take the extreme, helpless steps.

Consider the scenario where:

1.    Husband has dependent parents and owns a single property and if 50% of that goes to wife post-divorce, how will the husband take care of his old parents? Is the concept of family restricted to only husband-wife in the Indian context?

2.    What, if the family is a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) owning a single joint property? Will the wife get 50% of that? What about other sibling’s share in it?

3.    Women are being encouraged to go for divorce as this will be an easy way to acquire free property.

4.    Husband’s family would want to secure themselves against such a prospective calamity hitting them and guess what, to secure themselves they will be forced to ask would be wife also to contribute in the property. Will this not encourage the practice of dowry?

We are duty bound to caution you Sir, that the implementation of this property rights linked divorce would result in destruction of the Indian Family System thereby culminating into a bastardised society, rise in juvenile crime, teenage pregnancy, chemical abuse and ultimately chaos in the society as in the west. A recession in the 2^nd highest populous Nation would destroy the Nation and nobody would be able save our Great Nation.

Social groups under Save Family Foundation therefore demand:

1)    The revised Comprehensive Bill should be gender neutral, with sufficient safeguards inbuilt in it to prevent its misuse against any gender. The word husband and wife should be replaced by spouse in the Bill.

2)    Both husband and wife should be able to oppose the divorce under the clause of financial hardships. During partition, both the husbands and wife’s property should be divided, NOT just husbands, depending upon the years of marriage. Liabilities such as loans, mortgages etc should also be divided equally amongst both the parties.

3)    The new Bill should NOT make Marriage as a “Property Transfer Bureau”.

4)    As in most other countries, the maintenance should be proportional to the years of marriage. A wife in a marriage of 2 year should NOT be treated equally as a marriage of 20 years.

5)    Property division must take into account contributions made by both the spouses and also the fact that the property was acquired from wealth earned post marriage and not from previous savings.

Regards,                                                           

Wasif Ali

Treasurer, Save Family Foundation (Regd.)

Mobile: 9818509406

Copy to : Hon’ble Prime Minister

Supported by

1. Gender Human Rights Society, Delhi : 9899329991 / 9811052770
2. Manushi, Delhi : 011-23978851 / 9350041502
3. Men Cell, Delhi : 9810170681 / 9868142608
4. Mothers and Sisters Initiative (MASI), Delhi : 9818454928
5. Save Innocent Mother and Sister (SIMS), Bangalore:09342041382
6. Protect Indian Family (PIF), Mumbai : 09869323538 / 09821414336
7. Men Rights Protection, Mumbai : 09892668560
8. Bharat Bachao Sangathan, Kolkata : 09830151555
9. Protect Men’s Right, Kerala : 09387052990 / 0484230478
10. Sahana, Hyderabad:09848280354 / 09908578457
11. Asha Kiran, Bangalore: 080-65334135
12. Kutumb Rakshna Vedike, Bangalore : 09886934853
13. Protect Men’s Rights, Orissa : 0943708337
14. Pati Pariwar Kalyan Samiti, Lucknow : 09839097522
15. Rakshak, USA/Delhi : 9810452017
16. My Nation, Dubai/USA: 0096-53869295
17. Pirito Purush Pati Parishad Kolkata : 09433094337 / 09231529437
18. All India Forgotten Women, Hyderabad : 09704683163
19. Gujarat Gaurav Raksha Samiti (GGRS) : 9825225526
20. The Akhil Bharatiya Patni Atyachaar Virodhi Sangh (ABPAVS), Gujarat
21. Association of Protection of Mens Rights, Chennai,
22. Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting, Bangalore (CRISP), 9845264488
23. Peoples United Relationship Enhancement, Mysore (PURE)
24. Save Indian Family Organisation Rajasthan, Jaipur
25. Purushak Sangrashan Sanstha, Nasik
26. Men’s Right, Kerala: 9249502138

27. Purusha Vedi(PPPV), Kerala: 9387052990, 0484 2304478

“498A – The Wedding Gift”

A motion picture on the Misuse of Dowry Law,

Inspired by the tragic suicide committed by Syed Makhdoom (a victim of 498A)

498A - The Wedding Gift is a tragi-comedy film written and directed by Suhaib Ilyasi, this motion picture features veteran actors like Farida Jalal, Alok Nath, Sushma Seth, veteran ghazal singer Ghulam Ali Khan and Reema Lagoo. Colgate Ad boy Harsh Nagar and a fresh new face from Delhi, Shrishti Gautam, are in lead roles. The cast also includes Deepak Tijori in his first ever negative role.

Suhaib Ilyasi, Farida Jalal, Alok Nath with lead star cast will be present at Press Conference.

Mr Munish Dalal, the would have been husband of Ms. Nisha Sharma, of the false dowry case, now acquitted after 9 years and Ms. Nausheen (Sister of late Syed Makhdoom)  will also be present.

LOCATION: Press Club of India, 1, Raisina Road, New Delhi -110001

TIMING: 3 to 5 PM, 30th March 2012, Friday, followed by snacks

 Contact: 9999107314(Kamal), 9818509406 (Wasif), 9910074914 (Ritwik), 9811052770 (Niladri)

Websites

https://www.facebook.com/498aWeddingGift

http://www.498a-film.com/

PRESS RELEASE

“I didn’t know, when I was going for my Wedding, instead of gracious welcome, I would get 498A as a wedding gift”, says Munish Dalal, who was recently acquitted in the famous Nisha Sharma Case. Nisha Sharma was made an overnight heroine in May 11, 2003, as a crusader of anti-dowry campaign. After 9 years of hardship and struggle, Munish Dalal and his family are relieved to be acquitted in the case that had tarnished their image. How many of us would have imagined the truth behind Nisha Sharma story, when she was hailed a national icon and even her so called courageous step was even published Delhi school SCERT syllabus. Unfortunately, Munish Dalal case is not an isolated case, in fact, there are millions of sufferers who have got 498A as a Wedding Gift.498A is a typical law in IPC which is non-bailable, cognizable law and non-compoundable law where every marital conflict is termed as a dowry dispute. A single complaint by the wife can land the husband and his relatives in jail. A single complaint, implicates at least 5-6 person whether they have been even connected to the marriage or not.

Even though, it is well established the 498A is an abused provision and strong recommendations from all quarters to check the misuse, there is a lack of conviction to amend the law.

Save Family Foundation, is very happy to note that Suhaib Ilyasi has come up with the conviction to highlight the issue of misuse of 498A by making a movie on it named “498A-The Wedding Gift”.  The movie is inspired by the true incident of Syed Makhdoom, a victim of misuse of 498A, who committed suicide in 2009.

1.      This movie is being produced by Aaliya Productions owned by Mr. Suhaib Ilyasi, the famous host of the program, “India’s Most Wanted” that was telecast on Zee TV.

2.      498A: The Wedding Gift is a tragi-comedy film set in New Delhi, India. Written and directed by Suhaib Ilyasi, this motion picture features veteran actors like Farida Jalal, Alok Nath, Sushma Seth and Reema Lagoo. Colgate Ad boy Harsh Nagar and a fresh new face from Delhi, Shrishti Gautam, are in lead roles. The cast also includes Deepak Tijori in his first ever negative character.

3.      The story of 498A –The Wedding Gift centers on the theme of a widely misused provision of law in India, known as Section 498A or popularly known as the anti-dowry law.

4.      In the movie, Farida Jalal plays the role of the aggrieved mother, who goes insane, when implicated by false 498A case, filed by her daughter in law (played by Shristi Gautam in the movie).

5.      Alok Nath is playing the role of father, who suffers heart attack due to the ignominy and harassment caused by 498A.

6.      Ghulam Ali khan, a veteran Ghazal singer, apart from singing a patriotic song, has reportedly acted in the movie as well.

7.      Target Audience: The motion picture is in post production stages. The producers are bullish about the release of the film and are banking on the millions of victims of law to be its audience along with other citizens of India who are still unaware of the this behemoth law and its potential to break a family.

8.      Plot Inspiration: Producers of 498A: The Wedding Gift, maintain that the story of the film is not based on any specific true incident, however the motion picture 498A: Wedding Gift is said to be inspired by the death of Syed Makhdoom in 2009. Makhdoom (Canadian NRI), a computer engineer by profession, became a victim of 498A misuse and ended his life on 5 April 2009 in Bangalore, leaving four suicide notes and a dying video message on his mobile.

9.      Team:

Producer & Director: Suhaib Ilyasi; Cinematography: Saurav Vishwakarma;

Music: Ray and Brotherhood; Lyrics: Majid Deobandi;

Singers: Ghulam Ali Khan, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan & introducing Veena Parashar;

Action: Mehmood Bakshi; Editor: Arif Sheikh

About 498A

In 2010, as per Ministry of Home Affairs Statistics, 94041 cases of 498A, has been registered and 180413 were arrested including 41079 women.

As per the Ministry of Home Affairs Statistics it has been found that conviction rate is very low.  As per RTI, in last 10 years, 14,26,288 persons have been arrested including 3,66,030 women (1999-2000). Even the barbaric British Regime arrested only 20,000 women in 40 years.

Every hour, FIVE women get arrested in IPC 498A. So, the law that was meant to protect women is actually used to harass and jail an innocent woman, wasting government resources and tax payer’s money.

The misuse of this law has been well recognized and acknowledged by various governmental authorities including the Parliamentary Standing Committee and our Hon’ble Supreme Court, which termed it’s misuse as “Legal Terrorism” .The 498A report of Parliamentary Standing Committee, issued on Sep 07, 2011 states as follows:

• “The Committee strongly recommends that ill effects and misuse of the present legal provisions is also checked. The Committee fears that the failure to do so might leave no option except to dilute the law by making the same non-cognizable and non-bailable.”
• “The Committee recommends that section 498A be amended so as to provide for specific penalty in case the complaint is found to be false or with some ulterior motive. The Committee hopes that this will act as a deterrent because the complainant will be aware of the consequences which may follow if the complaint is found to be false by Court , at any stage of the proceedings.”

Suhaib Ilyasi feels extremely happy to announce that 20% of the profit made from the movie would be used for strengthening the men’s welfare movement in terms of building sustainable infrastructure for supporting the victims of the law, or organizing awareness campaigns to reach out to more and more victims or for conducting socially relevant research about abuse of men and their families.

Supported By:

1.                  Save Indian Family Foundation, Bangalore

2.                  Protect Indian Family(PIF), Mumbai :

3.                  Gender Human Rights Society, Delhi :

4.                  Mothers and Sisters Initiative (MASI), Delhi

5.                  “Pati Pariwar”-Kalyan Samiti, Lucknow

6.                  www.mynation.net Dubai/USA

7.                  All India Forgotten Women, Hyderabad

8.                  Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting, Bangalore (CRISP),

9.                  Indian Family Foundation, Mumbai

10.              Confidare Consultancy, Bangalore

11.              Men’s Rights Association(MRA), Pune

12.              Purushavakasha Samrakshana Samiti(PASS), Thrissur, Kerala

13.              All India Men’s Welfare Association(AIMWA)

14.              Mothers and Sisters of Husband Against Abuse of Law (MASHAAL)

15.              Centre for Men’s Rights, Bangalore

16.              Indian Social Welfare  And Activism Forum (INSAAF), USA

17.              Bhavya Foundation, Rae Barielly

18.              Hridaya-Nest of Family Harmony, Kolkata

19.              All India Mother’s-in Law Protection Forum

20.              Samseva, Bangalore

21.              National Family Harmony Society (NFHS), Bangalore

22.              Child Rights Initiative(CRI), Chennai

23.              Save Indian Family Movement(SIFM), Chennai

24.              National Litigant Bench(NLB), Bangalore

25.              Janamithram Janakiya Neethivedhi(JJNV), Kerala

26.              Peoples Urge for Rights and Equity(PURE), Mysore

27.              SIFTimes.com

28.              Kutumba Samrakshana Vedi, Kerala

29.              Purush Hakha Sarkshan Samiti  Vidharbha Region

30.              Stree Atyachar Pidit Purash Vikash Sanstha .Nagpur

31.              Save Family Initiative, Jharkhand

32.              Chattisgarh Save Indian Family

http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2009/sep/17/we-are-not-villains-harrassed-moms-in-law-unite1.htm

 

Bangalore ladies are coming together to break social stereotypes and be heard, reports Vicky Nanjappa.

What's the punishment for bigamy?

Two mothers-in-law.

Now that's a joke Neena Dhulia from Bangalore would not be pleased with! You guessed it -- she is a mother-in-law. But Neena is also the co-ordinator of the 500-strong All India Mother-in Law Protection Forum (AIMPF).

The Forum was born on September 6 with a loud and clear message: We are not what we have been made out to be in saas-bahu serials.

"Enough is enough," she says adding, "It is time we too ensured that our voices are heard."

Neena points out that even though there is a National Commission for Women, it is unfortunate that they don't listen to the grievances of a mother-in-law with the same enthusiasm that they listen to the complaint of a daughter-in-law. "Why this discrimination?" she asks.

The response, according to forum members, has been great. It started off with 50 women and ten days later the strength has grown to 500!

Members claim that the forum has generated a lot of interest, not just within the city but also nationally.

And like every growing organisation, this one has plans of expansion too. "The Nagpur and Chattisgarh wings will open up in a few days' time while wings at Delhiand Mumbai are on the anvil," Neha says.

Thank the harassed husbands

If you're wondering how this brilliant idea came about, you probably have to thank (or curse) the harassed husbands.

Save India Family, which works for harassed husbands, conducts periodical meetings at the Cubbon Park in Bangalore. The mothers of several of these husbands accompany them to these meetings.

According to Neena, it was during one such meeting that the germ of the idea was born.

Over cups of tea, it was decided that mom-in-laws needed a voice too. "We realised that we also need to form a group of our own to forcefully put our points across," she says.

Moms-in-law are not bad!

Indeed, that is the message that the forum wants to get across. Members told rediff.com that they want to wipe out the mental image from society that the mother-in-law is always the bad one in a relationship.

Says one, "There have been many cases where women have filed false complaints against their husbands and mothers-in-law and walked away with the booty. We have tried going and convincing the NCW about our problem but they have not been kind enough to us. It is worse when we are dragged into police stations. Without uttering a word, the police take into account what the wives have to say. In fact, they entertain verbal complaints and without so much as bothering to inquire into the allegations, they harass us. We think that if we stand united through this forum we can ensure that we too are heard."

Wake up, Ekta Kapoor

The other objective of the forum is to ensure that the soaps on television stop showing the mother-in-law in such bad light.

According to Neena, women grow up watching television serials where the mother-in-law is depicted as a vamp. The wife walks into her husband's house with that image in mind, which causes all the problems.

"We are not vamps or villains as television serials make us out to be. It is time we change the stereotype thinking -- it has to happen immediately. Statistics show that many women today are independent and cannot be overpowered. And with the law in their favour, they don't hesitate to misuse it," Neena says.

With like-minded people joining them every day, members of the All India Mother-in Law Protection Forum promise that they will not rest till 'the image of the mother-in-law is changed in the eyes of the society'.

So the next time you take a dig at your mom-in-law, think again.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=118&id=57739&Itemid=1§ionid=25&secid=0  

 

This is one Shimla Declaration that adds an intriguing twist to the meaning of freedom and independence. While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of the nation's growth in his Independence Day address in the Capital, in Shimla, the summer capital under the British, a group of men and women at that very moment declared they were better off in the British Raj. That freedom to them was still a dream.

What SIFF claims 55,200 married men commit suicide every year (57,593 for 2007) as compared to 30,000 married women, according to the National Crime Bureau. 98% of dowry harassment cases are false. Married women have been extorting money from their husbands by threatening them with false cases. 13 lakh men lost their jobs between 2001 and 2006, mostly due to frivolous cases lodged by wives.

The Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) comprises young, angry, "harassed" husbands, who claim they represent 25 NGOs and 40,000 equally "tortured" persons like them. Their grouse: they were being "betrayed" by those who framed laws and enforced them; that the law erroneously assumed all wives were "innocent angels" who could only be sinned against, and are not sinners.

At the end of the two-day meet, the participants announced that they would no longer take things lying down and declared the SIFF's Shimla Declaration that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code and Domestic Violence Act, 2005, was "unconstitutional".

Flashing their red caps and attired in colourful T-shirts with slogans loudly decrying 498A and certain other laws, about 100 key members of the SIFF spat venom. To them 498A is the biggest evil and they spoke of it as our freedom fighters did of the Rowlatt Act and Simon Commission, calling it equally draconian. When asked about their wives, they retorted: "Ex-wife, please." But was she a housewife, was the next question? "No, a house-breaking wife." And they screamed in unison: "Do as we say to save the families."

There's a little known world in urban India which seems ridiculous in its existence. "Help, my wife beats me," could only invite guffaws from people around you with specific notions of male domination, and you might even be relegated to the lunatic fringe of society. But the complaints extend to strange circles. As in the case of a senior IAS official and the principal secretary of the West Bengal Government who wouldn't find food for dinner day after day because his wife threw it all away and a software engineer whose harassment was so severe that a high court judge termed it "legal terrorism".

 

Participants at the Shimla meeting air their grievances.

At the Shimla conference, SIFF members sounded agitated. Each one had his sad story to share. Like Punebased software engineer Atit, 29, who was booked under Section 498A just because he had asked his wife to take adequate rest and proper medicines instead of attending late-night movies and day-long shopping while she was unwell. Nagpur-based real estate agent Rajesh Vakharia was put behind bars as his wife had filed a false dowry harassment case against him because she didn't get along well with Vakharia and wanted separation.

 

For a long time, these were stray cases, but now the country's harassed husbands and their families have decided to unite. They feel that they have enough evidence to show that "men's welfare" is as important as women's rights issues in India, and they are making a consolidated effort to make it known to the Government.

What started as a small group on a website on March 10, 2005, is now a movement. In several cities, the "harassed" husbands and relatives meet weekly. "The idea is to counsel them how to fight the law and other forces," says Nitin Gupta, who coordinates meetings in Chandigarh on Sundays. While Delhi has Crime Against Man cell run by advocate R.P. Chugh, Ahmedabad has the Akhil Bharatiya Patni Atyachar Virodhi Sangh and Mumbai has the Protect Indian Family Foundation which has not just husbands, but even fathers, mothers and sisters as members.

What men want One unverified complaint under Section 498A IPC lands a man and his family in jail. No probe is done to verify the tenacity of the complaint. The Constitution states that no person shall be tried twice for the same offence. However, in a harassment case, the man and his family face multiple litigations, prosecutions, trials for the same cause of action. Under the Domestic Violence Act, men aren't provided protection against abuse by their wives and in-laws, and the complainant woman's sole testimony is considered as evidence of violation enough to convict the man.

So is husband-beating just an urban malaise, brought on by spouses who both work and therefore deal with constant squabbles over equal distribution of household chores, or is it the declining moral fabric? Not quite. In 2005, the Sehore district in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh witnessed quite a turnaround in terms of harassment cases.

The district's police-run family counselling centre recorded that the cumulative complaints by men outnumber those by women (468 by men against 449 by women). In 2005, the numbers reached new heights-of the 125 recorded cases, 78 were filed by men seeking protection from their wives. A survey conducted by the Orissa State Commission for Women found that between 2002 and 2007, 567 cases were recorded in the state of women torturing men, with the numbers showing a sharp rise.

The SIFF has so far held seven protest marches against "women-oriented laws", but this conference is a watershed as they now have their charter of demands to be presented to the Government. With 40,000 members and the number set to increase, the foundation leaders are happy. "Now harassed husbands and their family members know they are not alone as they've the moral support to fight the misuse of these laws," says Bangalore-based Pandurang Katti, SIFF's founder member.

Is it really that simple? Criminal psychologist Rajat Mitra, who is director of the Delhi-based NGO Swanchetan and works closely with the Delhi Police, acknowledges that a large percentage of false cases are also filed "because the police is passive and unwilling to investigate the genuineness of a complaint".

However, in a male-dominated society, the claim that men have become the weaker sex and are being discriminated against sounds a trifle hollow, even though husband-beating and husband-baiting seems to be on the rise, if the statistics bandied about in Shimla are any indication. Marriages, they say, are made in heaven. The Shimla Declaration suggests that it could very well be designed in hell.

-with inputs by Ambreesh Mishra

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090816/himachal.htm#5  

Husbands seek separate ministry for men’s welfare
Shimla, August 15
While the entire country celebrated Independence Day, for these harassed men, most of them in the prime of their bright careers, the day holds no significance when those very laws meant for protecting women are being misused to hit back at their innocent mothers and sisters who too happen to be women.
The second national meet on the “Save Indian Family” in progress with participants relating their bitter experiences to the media at Shimla on Saturday. Tribune photo: Amit Bhardwaj

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Kicking-daughter-in-law-or-divorce-threat-not-cruelty-SC/articleshow/4858336.cms  

Kicking daughter-in-law or divorce threat not cruelty: SC

By: Kranti Vibhute   Date:  2009-06-21   Place:Mumbai

Two-month-old Zoya gets dragged into a dowry harassment case filed by her father's first wife. Legal experts, child rights activists react in shock at her having to get anticipatory bail to avoid arrest In a case straight out of Ripley's Believe It Or Not, the Mumbai Sessions court last Wednesday (June 17, 2009) granted anticipatory bail for what must have been their youngest applicant ever a two-month-old baby: Zoya aka Mehak Shamshuddin Khan. Lucky for her, or Zoya could have ended up behind bars. Mother Reshma Khan of two-month-old baby Zoya said the family was called for an inquiry to Nehru Nagar police station. She sat there with the baby in her arms for 10 hours without reprieve, from 1 pm till 10 pm. She even had to feed her baby in front of the police and visitors Zoya, who has got bail on a surety amount of Rs 10,000, is a member of the Khan family from Kurla who have been accused by Shakila Khan (27) in a dowry harassment case and for a criminal breach of trust. The sessions judge S N Sardesai in his order granted bail for seven of the eight applicants who applied for the anticipatory bail. Shakila lodged a complaint against Zoya's father and her divorced spouse Shamsuddin Khan at the Nehru Nagar police station and named the entire family in her letter, including Zoya, her biological mother (Shamsuddin's second wife), a neighbour and four relatives. Shakila accused them of harassing and demanding dowry of Rs one lakh and torturing her, the police said. Khan's lawyers Anil Bhole and Lata Vhotkar said the police initially thought that the matter would be resolved between both parties amicably. "However, when Shakila submitted a complaint letter against Shamsuddin and his family in which his second wife Reshma's baby was also mentioned, he had to rush for anticipatory bail for all his family members," said Bhole. The police registered the case on Wednesday evening against Khan and his family members, acting on Shakila's complaint letter submitted earlier. "Shakila and Shamsuddin divorced two years ago and he has since remarried and had Zoya with his second wife," said Nasim Bano Khan, Shamsuddin's mother. The entire family, apart from Shamsuddin, was summoned to the Nehru Nagar police station on Friday for questioning. "We were at the police station from 1 pm to 10 pm. Who would have looked after my baby while we were being questioned by the policemen? Our baby is so small, so I have to still bring her along every time," said a distraught Reshma.

'I can't believe my ears, it's bizarre!'
Mohammed Afzal, activist

'It's amazing that such an order could be passed for a baby.'
Girija Vyas, chairperson, National Commission for Women

'I can't believe my ears'

Zoya's case has stirred up a strong response. Former law minister and senior counsel Ram Jethmalani said that it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard of. "It's probably unheard of even in any other part of the world where a two-month-old baby has to apply for bail. The people who mentioned the baby in the complaint must be crazy!" Similar sentiments were echoed by former senior counsel Rohini Salian, "This is a hilarious and unheard-of episode," she said.

Others were more cutting. Criminal lawyer Dinesh Tiwari said that apart from being an unprecedented case, it was a failure on the part of the police and the judicial process. "There should have been some verification of the applicant. How can a complaint letter naming a two-month-old baby be blindly considered in this manner?" asked Tiwari. Consumer activist Mohammed Afzal said the case highlighted the need for proper judicial guidelines. "I can't believe my ears, it's absolutely bizarre," he said.

Others chalked it up to the lack of awareness. "It's really a laughing matter, but it highlights the ignorance that exists amongst the police and judicial force. It's amazing that such an order could be passed for a baby," said Dr Girija Vyas, chairperson, National Commission for Women.

"The commission will look into this particular case to give us insights into the issues of child jurisprudence, which we are currently examining," said Dr Shanta Sinha, chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

Sociologist Nandini Sardesai said that the move was probably an attempt on the victim's part to get her case noticed.

"To begin with, it's strange that dowry is an issue in a Muslim family, but it reflects the pernicious carryover of a Hindu custom to other communities for their own benefit. Cases of dowry harassment often go unnoticed and this inclusion of the baby was probably to gain some attention and to sensationalise her case.

As for the police, it's no surprise that they often don't know the legalities since they're either apathetic or ignorant."

The case so far
Police have filed a case against Shamshuddin Khan (divorced husband of Shakila), his second wife, daughter, mother, brother, two sisters and one neighbour for dowry harassment (section 498), criminal breach of trust (section 406) and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention (section 34). Shamsuddin's bail application was rejected and he was arrested by the Nehru Nagar police station on Saturday.

Children faultless until seven
"The child is presumed to be innocent until the age of seven and it's presumed that until then the child does not understand the difference between good or bad, crime or no crime and there is no Mensrea (intention to commit an offence is absent). Thus the child cannot be punished nor can any case be registered against it. Once the child is seven or above, he is a juvenile and can be tried under the Juvenile Offenders Act by the juvenile courts. In this case since the baby in question is only two months, there is no need for seeking anticipatory bail, nor for the court to grant such bail," explains ex-mayor of Mumbai and advocate Nirmala Samant Prabhavalkar.

For nearly nine hours, Zoya was in her mother's arms while police officials made inquires on Friday. "It was embarrassing to feed my baby in front of the police and while other visitors moved around us. While my statement was being recorded, Zoya continuously cried. That irritated the policemen, but they didn't understand how hard it was for me to take care of my two-month-baby and answer their questions," said Reshma.

When Prakash Kale, senior police inspector of Nehru Nagar station, was asked why the baby was dragged into the matter, he rubbished the claim, saying, "No complaint has been filed against the baby, but since her name was mentioned by the complainant (Shakila) in her letter, the entire family applied for anticipatory bail."

For more reference :

This is a name which few people would have heard or cared about 4 years back, but today this is a force to recon with . The members has reached lakhs both Indian and abroad and most members consist of well heeled educated Men and their families . SIF Also has a huge number of women followers, they consists of sisters , mothers , sister- in –laws , grandmothers and also unrelated women . These women are members because they too are falsely implicated by India's wife protection laws. The men of SIF protect the women of their families from the extortionist wives , corrupt police and Biased judiciary.

In the last 150 days SIF has been mentioned in the media for more than 60 days or in other words 60 different articles of SIF are published in the media. If every article has been read at least 100,000 people then about 8 million people would have knows or heard about SIF and that is something to be proud of .

We believe in the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and we get our inspiration from this great man , We believe in his words

" First they ignore you , then they mock you , then they fight you , then you win ".

Supreme court Justice Markendu Katju seems to be still is in the second stage where he still believes that Men are something to be exploited and made fun of , but in other areas we are well into the third stage where we are waging a war against many fronts . We wage a war against the biased laws in India which are created only for wives and do not think of the welfare of other women also leave alone the men . We fight against the biased judiciary which teats men with disdain and pass judgments which are totally biased and one sided against men no matter who is at fault . We also fight against the blatant number fudging that is done by the Womens organizations to come up with sensational false numbers in order to get media attention and attract more foreign funds with which they can push for more biased laws and justify the existence of the current biased laws. Then we also actively wage a war against corruption in the Police department and Crime Against Women cells because these places have becomes more like an extortion den where compromises are made and money is extorted from the helpless husband and his family after being trapped under a biased law.

SIF is aware the odds stacked against it , it knows very well that media and industry would love to see more families break up , because family breakup increases spending and drives up the demands for the goods and products . A united family will own one TV while a dived family will need two is the simple reasoning . The Police and lawyers do not want the laws to change , because then they will lose income from the lakhs of false cases , bail proceeding from dowry cases and the general ability to extort money from helpless people implicated under these laws . Women's organizations do not want gender neutral laws since they would then have close their `Women's right shop ` and be out of business , since they would not be able to get foreign aid in the name of Woman empowerment .

But SIF knows it will win , because SIF is on the same side as truth is and we believe that "Truth Always Wins"( Satyamev Jayate ). SIF many not have the blessings of the government of India , but we do have the blessings of thousands of mothers , grandmothers and sisters who work and fight with us day in and day out trying to educate the slumbering Indian populace . SIF has the support of hundreds of small but nevertheless important NGO's who work with us to spread the word on how gender biased laws and the wake the people of India to gender equality. We know we will win and we will succeed in creating a Ministry for the Welfare of Indian Men . We know that the night is darkest before the sun shines and the SIF has no doubt that the sun will shine and spread the rays of hope , peace and family harmony that will keep the Indian family as a cohesive unit for the next ten thousand years .

For more reference must read:

• Bow down before your wife: SC tells husbands
• After President of India , now Chief Justice of India admits to Misuse of Dowry Law.
• Indian Husbands End thier life:It Was A Crime That I Was Born As Man ?

The law will stay: Renuka Chaudhary

For more reference You must read :

• Bow down before your wife: SC tells husbands