On I-Day, men to demand neutral laws
2010-08-14 18:50:00
When India celebrates its 64th Independence Day Sunday, around 100 men representing nearly 15 NGOs would press for the formulation of gender neutral laws at a meeting at the Yercaud hill station in Tamil Nadu.
The men's rights groups would meet in the cool climes of Yercaud under the aegis of Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) to hotly deliberate social, judicial, health and other domestic issues affecting men.
They would also launch helplines and a National Litigant Bench (NLB) which will educate men involved in litigation at the meeting at Yercaud, some 380 km from Chennai.
'The worst sufferers of judicial delays are men. The NLB will help litigants in knowing their rights so that they are protected from undue judicial delays,' Uma Challa, president of All India Men's Welfare Association (AIMWA) told IANS over phone from Hyderabad.
'With cases taking decades to get settled, litigants lose their prime youth in going to courts rather than engaging in productive work,' Manoj, one of the architects of NLB, told IANS.
The one common thread binding the men's rights activists is that they all were involved in litigation mostly filed under women-centric laws or legal provisions.
'There is blatant abuse of legal provisions. If a person is found guilty, he should be punished. But when you bring in the element of monetary compensation for the complainant, then misuse of legal provisions kicks in,' Manoj said.
Legal provisions were framed to protect law-abiding women, but these are often misused, said Kumar V. Jahgirdar, a stock broker by profession and president of Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP) based in Bangalore.
In India, divorces are turning out to be a tsunami for men. When divorce tsunami hits a man, he loses everything including his children, he said.
'As to children visitation rights, on an average a father gets around 2-4 hours once in 15 days which is very insignificant,' he added.
'Our demand is that laws should be applied on a neutral basis. For instance, law provides for a man to claim maintenance from his wife. But when that provision is sought to be invoked society ridicules men,' Challa said citing her own brother's case.
'Not that my brother wanted to claim maintenance from his wife. It is just that we wanted to test the legal provision and he was ridiculed,' she added.
Suresh Ram of AIMWA added: 'The women's organisations are headed by radical feminists and women laws are influenced by them. In the name of individuals' rights, families are destroyed.'
http://sify.com/news/on-i-day-men-to-demand-neutral-laws-news-national-kiosOedeghi.html
Nivedita Chaudhuri
If women like Uma Challa had their way, they would change all gender-biased laws that exist in India today, including Section 498A of the IPC or the dowry law.
The draft Bill on Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at the Workplace may be ready, but some women actually think it is heavily biased against men. If women like Uma Challa had their way, they would change all gender-biased laws that exist in India today, including Section 498A of the IPC or the dowry law. Challa argues that the dowry law is being misused by many women to harass their husbands and in-laws.
Hyderabad-based Challa launched a forum called All India Forgotten Women, under the aegis of Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) in 2005, in response to the “large-scale arrests of women falsely accused under Section 498A IPC”.
The draft Bill on sexual harassment at the workplace, she says, does not have provisions to protect men from similar harassment at the workplace and it thus undermines the Indian Constitution, which states that men and women have the same right to equality and life.
“The Bill and its architects undermine the basic truth that sexual harassment is neither about sex nor gender. It is about power, and a woman in power can be every bit as abusive as a man,” Challa says.
“The Bill requires that committees for redressing grievances consist of persons ‘committed to the cause of women’. If committees are filled with individuals committed to the cause of women and not to the cause of truth, law and justice, is it hard to foretell the fate of males in an institution or in society as a whole,” she asks.
Challa, who is also president of The All India Men’s Welfare Association, says the Bill contains provisions for ‘conciliation’ and ‘settlement’ between the ‘aggrieved’ woman and the respondent. If ‘conciliation’ happens and ‘settlement’ is arrived at, no further inquiry will be conducted. If, however, the terms and conditions of ‘conciliation’ and ‘settlement’ are not met by the accused, an inquiry will be conducted.
“When sexual harassment at the workplace is considered a grievous crime which warrants a special and stringent law, what is the purpose of having a ‘conciliation’ and ‘settlement’ plan? In what way is this law different from the dowry law, which is being used as a weapon of extortion,” she asks.
She says countries around the world, including the USA, the UK and all member countries of the European Union, have gender-neutral sexual harassment prevention laws. “Even Pakistan, which passed a similar Bill in January 2010, embraced the principle of gender neutrality,” she adds.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/88344/wanted-gender-neutral-laws.html
ON 4 JULY 2010 @ 11:30 AM @ NEWS & SERVICES SYNDICATE (NSS), HYDERGUDA ANNOUNCING "JAIL BHARO" CAMPAIGN
We, the All India Forgotten Women's Association (AIFWA) and All India Men's Welfare Association (AIMWA), are organizing this Press Conference to announce our support to Mr. Ravindra Gangurde, who has called for a "Jail Bharo Andolan" on 6 July 2010, as a sign of protest against arbitrary arrests of ordinary law-abiding citizens under IPC Sections 498A, 304B, Dowry Prohibition Act and related laws.
Given that today, arrest is inevitable for any man facing allegations of abuse or assault, it is imperative that our fathers, brothers and sons are prepared to go to jail along with us even if they committed no crime. "Jail Bharo" campaign is aimed at freeing ordinary law-abiding male citizens and their kin from the fear of jail and the concomitant feelings of humiliation and suffering so that they do not drive themselves into depression, ruin their health or end their own lives.
We request members of the print and electronic media to attend the Press Conference and provide wide coverage of our event.
Thank you.
To, 01/July/2010
Honorable President of India, Bangalore
President’s Office
Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi – 110011
Subject: National Family Harmony Society (NFHS) along with Indian Family Foundation (IFF), Mother And Sisters of Husband Against Abuse of Law (MASHAAL), All India Forgotten Women’s Association (AIFWA) and All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA), are supporting Mr. Ravindra Gangurde of Shree Shravanbal & Shree Laxman Bhikaji Gangurde Seva Kendra, who has called for a “Jail Bharo Andolan” on 6 July 2010.
About National Family Harmony Society®: “National Family Harmony Society®” NFHS is a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) promoting the cause of “family harmony” and “gender equality”. It is registered under “The Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960” and is based in Bangalore. We have branches in more than 16 states and in abroad too. We have approximately 14500 members all over India. To know more about us please visit www.family-harmony.org / www.498a.org.in.
National Family Harmony Society, hereby, announces our support to Mr. Ravindra Gangurde’s “Jail Bharo Andolan” as a sign of protest against arbitrary arrests of ordinary law-abiding citizens under IPC Sections 498A, 304B, Dowry Prohibition Act and related laws.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
In blatant violation of all the above rights, thousands of husbands and their families are arbitrarily arrested every year, without evidence or investigation, under IPC Sections 498A, 304B, Dowry Prohibition Act, and related wife-centric laws which presume that the accused are “guilty until proven innocent”.
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has noted the misuse of dowry laws, arrest of innocent individuals and the resultant overcrowding of prisons. NHRC has urged the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to take measures against these abuses. High Courts across the country and the Supreme Court have condemned the misuse of dowry laws. The Commissioner of Police, Bangalore had issued standing instructions vide memo to check arbitrary arrests. The DGP, Karnataka has also issued a circular to implement 11 guidelines issued by Honorable Supreme Court of India regarding arrests and detention of Individuals in Cr WP No. 539/1986 and Cr WP No.592/1987. By taking note of the heavy misuse of the 498A IPC, recently on October 20, 2009, Union Ministry of Home Affairs had issued an advisory to all the state Governments and Union Territories. National Commission of Human Rights also has issued guidelines regarding arrests.
Nevertheless, abuse of police powers continues and unnecessary arrests have only been growing in the State of Karnataka. Police routinely enter people’s homes at ungodly hours, take accused men and women into custody, and incarcerate them in the name of “protecting women from cruelty and harassment”. Innocent citizens are illegally detained, humiliated, subjected to mental and physical torture, blackmail and extortion. The honor and reputation of these accused individuals is simultaneously attacked through media trial and unrestrained slander by women’s organizations every day. Thousands of men and women have been driven to suicide due to the trauma of false cases, arrest, prolonged trials and the resultant humiliation and financial troubles they have to endure.
According to statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2007 alone, an overwhelming 94% of the individuals arrested under IPC Section 498A were found not guilty. A closer look at individual cases under Section 498A reveals that arrests are made by lower cadre police officials without proper justification and only with the intent of terrorizing innocent citizens and extorting money from them under the threat of imprisonment and long-drawn legal battles.
Our numerous pleas to the Government of India to stop arbitrary arrests of citizens under IPC Section 498A have fallen on deaf ears. On the other hand, new laws are always on the anvil (sexual assault, work place harassment, acid attacks etc.) which stress on immediate arrest of men upon mere accusations made by women.
While it is amply clear that under the prevailing circumstances, arrest is inevitable for any man facing allegations of abuse or assault, it is imperative that innocent citizens are prepared to go to jail even if they committed no crime. Ordinary law abiding citizens and their kin should be freed from the fear of jail and the concomitant feelings of humiliation and suffering so that they do not drive themselves into depression, ruin their health or end their own lives.
In light of the above facts, we, the National Family Harmony Society (NFHS) along with Indian Family Foundation (IFF), Mother And Sisters of Husband Against Abuse of Law (MASHAAL), All India Forgotten Women’s Association (AIFWA) and All India Men’s Welfare Association (AIMWA), are extending our support to Mr. Ravindra Gangurde of Shree Shravanbal & Shree Laxman Bhikaji Gangurde Seva Kendra, who has called for a “Jail Bharo Andolan” on 6 July 2010.
OUR Demands:
Enclosures:
A) The Commissioner of Police, Bangalore
B) Circular by The DGP, Karnataka
C) Advisory by Union Ministry of Home Affairs
D) Arrest Guidelines by National Commission of Human Rights
E) Letter from Mr. Gangurde calling for “Jail Bharo Andolan” – Marathi and English Translation
F) Article from The Sunday Indian; Dowry Law Sec 498(A) – How and why the law is an ass.
P Suresh, President,
9880141531
National Family Harmony Society
http://498amisuse.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/petition-to-president-re-jail-bharo/
28 June 2010
All India Forgotten Women's Association and All India Men's Welfare Association, hereby, announce their support to Mr. Ravindra Gangurde's "Jail Bharo Andolan" as a sign of protest against arbitrary arrests of ordinary law-abiding citizens under IPC Sections 498A, 304B, Dowry Prohibition Act and related laws. We submitted a letter today to the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad to request for permission to stage a peaceful demonstration.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
* Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
* No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
* Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
* No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
In blatant violation of all the above rights, thousands of husbands and their families are arbitrarily arrested every year, without evidence or investigation, under IPC Sections 498A, 304B, Dowry Prohibition Act, and related wife-centric laws which presume that the accused are "guilty until proven innocent".
India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has noted the misuse of dowry laws, arrest of innocent individuals and the resultant overcrowding of prisons. NHRC has urged the judiciary and law enforcement agencies to take measures against these abuses. High Courts across the country and the Supreme Court have condemned the misuse of dowry laws. The Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad issued standing instructions through a memo vide No.L&O/M6/1315/2002 to check arbitrary arrests. The AP Police Dept. has even launched a web page entitled "Abuse of 498A" on the Dept. website.
Nevertheless, abuse of police powers continues and unnecessary arrests have only been growing in the State of AP. Police routinely enter people's homes at ungodly hours, take accused men and women into custody, and incarcerate them in the name of "protecting women from cruelty and harassment". Innocent citizens are illegally detained, humiliated, subjected to mental and physical torture, blackmail and extortion. The honour and reputation of these accused individuals is simultaneously attacked through media trial and unrestrained slander by women's organizations every day. Many men and women have been driven to suicide due to the trauma of false cases, arrest, prolonged trials and the resultant humiliation and financial troubles they have to endure.
According to statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau in 2007 alone, an overwhelming 94% of the individuals arrested under IPC Section 498A were found not guilty. A closer look at individual cases under Section 498A reveals that arrests are made by lower cadre police officials without proper justification and only with the intent of terrorizing innocent citizens and extorting money from them under the threat of imprisonment and long-drawn legal battles.
Our numerous pleas to the Government of India to stop arbitrary arrests of citizens under IPC Section 498A have fallen on deaf ears. On the other hand, new laws are always on the anvil (sexual assault, work place harassment, acid attacks etc.) which stress on immediate arrest of men upon mere accusations made by women.
While it is amply clear that under the prevailing circumstances, arrest is inevitable for any man facing allegations of abuse or assault, it is imperative that our fathers, brothers and sons are prepared to go to jail along with us even if they committed no crime. Ordinary law abiding male citizens and their kin should be freed from the fear of jail and the concomitant feelings of humiliation and suffering so that they do not drive themselves into depression, ruin their health or end their own lives.
In light of the above facts, we, the All India Forgotten Women's Association (AIFWA) and All India Men's Welfare Association (AIMWA), extend our support to Mr. Ravindra Gangurde, who has called for a "Jail Bharo Andolan" on 6 July 2010. On behalf of our fathers, brothers and sons, we sought the permission of the Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad, to conduct a peaceful demonstration (of not more than 50 persons) near the Women Police Station, CCS, Hyderabad, between 10:00-11:00 a.m. on 6 July 2010 and personally submit a memorandum.
The following material was submitted as enclosures along with the letter:
1) English translation of letter from Mr. Gangurde calling for "Jail Bharo Andolan".
2) Article from India Post; Dowry Law Sec 498(A) – How and why the law is an ass. (Special Report – English)
3) Memo issued by Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad – No.L&O/M6/1315/2002. (Hyderabad CP's Memo)
4) A.P. Police webpage on "Abuse of 498a". (AP Police – Ladies Special)
5) Letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs to Mr. Gangurde.
http://uchalla.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/press-release-jail-bharo/
