Lawyer felicitated for contribution in cause of men

ALLAHABAD: A High Court lawyer Arvind Kumar Pandey was felicitated by a section of lawyers for receiving an award at fifth National Men's Rights Conference held in Nagpur recently, for outstanding contribution in championing the cause of men in national and International arena, during a programme organized at Indian Coffee House on Saturday.

Addressing the lawyers, Arivind Kumar Pandey said, "Biased criminal laws have spoiled the lives of many men charged under the Dowry Act. The laws like Domestic Violence Act, IPC 498 a, and Maintenance Act, to name a few are heavily tilted in favour of women and have done more harm than producing good effects."

The Men's Rights National conference, held at Pench Tiger Reserve in Nagpur was attended by more than 150 men's rights activists, who represented 40,000 activists spread across India and other parts of the globe.

This year's national conference was held under the aegis of Nagpur Chapter of Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), now being run by Rajesh Vakharia. Few prominent International Men's Rights Associations like Marital Justice from United Kingdom and INSAAF from USA besides Men's Rights activists from Germany, Singapore, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Middle East, Japan and Russia also attended the conference.

Informing about the resolutions passed at fifth Men's Rights conference Arvind Kumar Pandey, who attended the conference as a writer and blogger said, "The first resolution was aimed at formation of Men's Welfare Ministry while the next resolution aimed at reducing the number of men involved in hazardous professions and another important resolution dealt with creation of gender-neutral treatment in legal aspects. Recognition of the rights of fathers, making shared parenting necessary in wake of separation was another major demand made on the occasion. The activists were unanimous in rejecting the highly biased Marriage Law Amendment Bill, 2010, and demanded its roll back. Lastly, the need to make huge investment in areas of Men's health was deeply felt."

The felicitation ceremony at Coffee House, Allahabad, was attended by advocates including Neeraj Shukla, Sampanna Kumar Srivastava, Ashish Nigam, Satyadhar Dubey, Arvind Kushwaha, Pintu Jaiswal, Shubhranshu Pandey, Arun Prakash Srivastava, Mohit Kesarwani and few others.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Lawyer-felicitated-for-contribution-in-cause-of-men/articleshow/22197623.cms 

Marriage law: The 'Inter Continental Ballistic Missile' of a Bill

The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, approved by the Rajya Sabha on Monday, has long been pegged the 'Intercontinental Continental Ballistic Missile' (ICBM) Bill by protesting men's groups, for its inclusion of the 'Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage (IBM)' clause as a valid condition for divorce.

Virag Dhulia, a men's rights activist and head of gender studies at the Bangalore-based Confidare Research says, "The Rajya Sabha has betrayed us. We now hope the Lok Sabha MPs will not let us down." Men's groups like Dhulia's partnered with Men's Rights Association, Pune and have been protesting the Bill for months now. In December 2012 they led a rally to Jantar Mantar and courted detention on May 1, 2013 en route the Prime Minister's residence. Their objections to the Bill are that it will blindly give away property in the name of marriage, that men will stop marrying to prevent this, thus destabilizing the institution of marriage.

"Whichever country has these clauses also has supportive laws like a legalization of pre-nuptial agreements, which India doesn't have. India is cherry picking laws that suit them, which can prove disastrous. In 2011, China rolled back a law like this because men had stopped marrying and stopped buying property" Dhulia warns.

But the Bill is in fact far reaching and thought out over a period of decades. The first proposals for amendments to the Hindu Marriage Act came from the Law Commission in 1978. Two more Law Commission reports, several Supreme Court Judgements and after much debate among invested parties led by women's groups like Majlis, the Bill has been tabled.

Chakshu Roy, head of technology initiatives at PRS Legislative Research, New Delhi says, "The Law Commission and the Supreme Court have on a number of occasions recommended the inclusion of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce. The Law Commission suggested that before a divorce is granted on this ground, the court should ensure adequate financial arrangements have been made for the parties and children. The Bill incorporates these suggestions and introduces this ground for divorce and makes financial provision for the wife and children."

What the Bill essentially says is that there are certain conditions based on which either the husband or wife can apply for divorce. These are cruelty, medical reasons such as communicable diseases, mental illnesses, desertion. The Bill essentially sought to correct the lacuna that arose from the need to dissolve the marriage in the eventuality that none of these stand i.e. the dissolution of marriage due to an organic breakdown.

The Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage clause allows a woman or a man to exit on the premise that she is unfulfilled or unhappy in a marriage after a three year period of separation. The wife also bears the right to block a divorce thrust upon her if she can prove she will be in grave financial hardship. The Bill will also allow the court to consider a waiver of the 6-18 month lock-in period for couples who file by mutual consent.

A huge triumph, points out activist and head of women's group Majlis, Flavia Agnes, is the Bill's determination of the compensation due to the wife. In doing so, the Bill now allows the court to take into account inherited and inheritable properties. This becomes a crucial factor in cases where husbands are able to sell off properties in their name and prove they have no assets, leaving the wife without compensation.

Men's groups protest this clause saying it allows women to divorce a man after five days and "clean him out". Agnes dismisses concerns stating that women have gotten the short end of the stick for far too long.

A lot of the debate has been ill-informed. Advocates state that the court will consider many factors while making such a decision. As any nuclear armed country knows, setting off a missile isn't so simple, there are many check points.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/rajya-sabha-passes-marriage-laws-amendment-bill-2010/1/304271.html

 

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/case-against-ngo-for-forcing-woman-to-file-false-rape-case/1078735/ 

Laws turning anti-men: Ex-minister

Former minister B T Lalitha Naik said on Sunday that laws, of late, had become radically biased towards women and that society at large had demonised the role of men.
She was addressing a protest by the Karnataka Rajya Purushara Rakshana Samithi here.

“Under the present laws, men can become easy targets for women with bad intentions. A man can be arrested merely an the allegation of rape or dowry harassment by a woman,” Naik said.

“We demand that lawmakers introduce appropriate checks in the laws so that women lodging frivolous complaints are seriously dealt with,” Naik said.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/353265/laws-turning-anti-men-ex.html 

Pictures of National Meet of Indian MHRAs

The Indian Men’s Rights Movement had a good start in 2004. (Note: See AVfM’s message of support and solidarity here–DE) We never wanted to centralize it into one organization. We made it mandatory for men’s rights activists in every city to start their own NGOs. As a result, today there are more than 40 men’s rights NGOs in India. In Bangalore itself, there are 7 men’s rights NGOs. The central theme of most of these men’s rights NGOs is the support group meetings, which almost always focus on supporting men going through marital problems, courts case or facing domestic violence. The value that a man often gets by attending these support group meetings is immense. He gets clarity, peace and learns laws, which actually cuts his lawyer fees in half. The fundamental principle of Indian Men’s Movement is, “No matter what happens to you or your life, enjoy life; enjoy every moment of it”.

Today, Indian MRAs are actually among some of the happiest people in India. The bad circumstances of life have no impact at all on them. That is what is reflected in the annual National Meets that Indian MRAs conduct every year.

This year, 114 MRAs from all corners of India converged at a resort at Pench National Park, to attend the Men’s Rights National Meet. This national park is actually a tiger reserve with at least two dozen Bengal tigers roaming in this forest. In the day time, they had hectic schedule of presentations and in the evenings they danced and partied together.

Most guys met each other for the first time, though they have known each other through social media. The presentations this year focused on a variety of topics from lobbying at parliament, future of the movement to topics like, how to manage your own fear. On the first day, MRAs from different cities shared their success stories. Most of them wore Men’s Rights T-Shirts.

Fifth National Conference

Happy MRAs

Lunch time

MRAs from different cities meet again

Party Time

The Dias

Well Known Fathers Rights Activists

 



http://www.avoiceformen.com/updates/pictures-of-5th-annual-national-meet-of-indian-mens-rights-activists/ 

Activists make a case of 'Musculism'

'Society and laws need to be men-friendly too'

While all of us were celebrating Independence Day, a few men from all over the country assembled in the city to discuss some pressing issues. They were members of various men's rights organizations who had come to attend a national conference under the aegis of Men's Rights Association (MRA), a first-of-its-kind event. Two of the pioneers of the movement in India, IT professional and one of the founders of Save Indian Family Foundation, Pandurang Katti and, businessman and president of Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), Kumar Jahgirdar spoke to TOI about the emergence of men's rights movement, the need for more gender-neutral marital laws and masculinity among other things.

Excerpts from an interview ---

What prompted you to consider being part of the men's rights movement?

PK. Small things like different tax slabs for same salary levels and reserved seats in public transport seemed unfair to me. Then came article 498A which I read was being misused in many cases. Then it hit closer home when I was acquitted under the same law in 2004. It was my wife's word against my evidence and our genders dictated the assumption of who was wrong.

What do you think of society's definitions of roles of men and women?

KJ. Sadly, the age-old mindset of men being providers and women being homemakers still prevails. Despite all talks about equality, society does not treat men and women equally. This extends to marriages as well, without realizing that marriages are not for competing but for complementing each other.

PK. Men are looked upon as monsters until they prove otherwise. There are several wrongful expectations from men which are seen in many aspects of life a" work, marriage and even in relations before marriage. The blame for any woman's committing suicide is invariably pegged on a man close to her, like it happened in the Suraj Panscholi case. There are cases like that Kausar Begum of Bangalore who married 12 times, earning lots of money by getting all the husbands arrested under domestic violence act.

How do you perceive women's rights movement?

KJ. It has become fashionable to talk about women empowerment and women's liberation in the name of chivalry. While doing so, human rights are sometimes kept on stake. Women have suffered a lot, for centuries. But thatas no excuse to make the current generation of men suffer, too. We must have a more human approach to things rather than feministic or chauvinistic.

Which Indian laws do you think are unfair?

PK. Several laws are misused by women, and used as a way of blackmailing men. Article 498A, that deals with dowry-related cases is the first that comes to mind. We believe it should be made a civil law, and a bailable offence. Under the Domestic Violence Act, the very definition of violence is questionable. Even domestic tiffs can land an entire family in jail. Rape laws are applicable to a man promising marriage to a woman if they have been intimate. This happens only in India.

KJ. The very reason we have shunned the celebrations of Independence is Marriage Law Amendment Bill 2010. Under this bill, it is proposed that a man can't challenge a divorce petition filed by his wife. It also allows the woman a claim over ancestral property of her former husband after divorce. This bill is unfair in so many ways. In cases of separation of parents, the judiciary in India assumes that the child needs a mother more than a father. A bad husband is not necessarily a bad father. All children need both parents equally.

Are there any suggestions for improving the current laws?

PK. In several divorce cases, the women ask for big amounts of alimony that are many times unjustifiable, like when a doctor wife asked her husband for a big sum monthly, of which Rs 35,000 was to be spent on entertainment. While deciding these amounts, especially in cases where the woman is gainfully employed, the financial and other situations of both parties must be duly considered.

KJ. To reduce the stress of a breaking marriage on children, shared parenting must be allowed as a norm. These cases must be disposed at the earliest possible. People found guilty of misusing laws like 498A, domestic violence act and such must be punished. Also, many times when women violate court orders judges go soft on them, which should not be done. Children's rights are constantly ignored in cases of separating and divorcing parents, where they are even used as weapons to fight personal battles.

You call the movement you have started "masculinism". How does it differ from chauvinism or chivalry?

PK. There is what we call cultural chauvinism in our society. This calls for more realistic expectations from men instead of putting excessive responsibility on them. The modern society gives women equal opportunities, so it is only fair to provide men with certain choices and freedom, too. Laws and society need not only be women-friendly but also men-friendly.

The changes in the way of living have affected marriages, too. Does that strike as a positive change to you?

KJ. In modern marriages, both men and women share all responsibilities, whether they are domestic or financial. This culture is spreading very fast, too. However, the cases of divorces and legal hassles that people have to live with for their whole lives are also increasing.   http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Society-and-laws-need-to-be-men-friendly-too/articleshow/21930311.cms 

It’s Freedom Friday for harassed husbands near Nagpur; “Independence Day” today!!

It’s Freedom Friday for harassed husbands near Nagpur; “Independence Day” today!!

Nagpur News.
It’s a male’s day altogether…or the Husband’s Independence Day to be more precise. While the people across the nation might have celebrated Independence Day on Thursday in solidarity with the traditional practice, a handful group of men acted otherwise. Feeling leftover in the series of issues pertaining to individual rights, husbands have moved a step forward in affirming their self in their own right and marked Friday as their day of ‘Independence’. The city of Nagpur would be a part of the one of its kind revolution which is running into its fifth year.
5^th National Men’s Rights Conference 2013, an event jointly conducted by a group of organizations fighting for equal rights to men in Hindu marriages would be held Friday at
Pench Jungle Home Resort near Nagpur.
Arnab Ganguly, a member of one of the participating organization called INSAAF told Nagpur Today, “We have found Nagpur as our strong chapter. We have got strong support from over 3500 members here. It is centrally located and easier to reach. So this year we have chosen this venue for conducting our event.
He told Nagpur Today, “On Friday we will be conducting the conference while tomorrow we would be debating on marriage laws.”
He informed that last year we could not conduct the event as we had moved to Delhi to press for the amendments in Hindu Marriage Bill. “Our previous events were conducted in Shimla, Kolkata and Yercaud in Tamil Nadu. We are fighting for the men’s rights as the provisions of current Hindu marriage bill are extremely dangerous and essentially targeting men in Hindu marriages. It allows wives to acquire 50% of the ancestral property. Even when the Hindu man is not married, 50% is accorded to his wife although she has not contributed in the property. This is very dangerous act which affects Hindu families badly. It will push husbands to become criminals. We want the government to make amendments but it did not pay any heed. Even the proposal is awaiting to be tabled in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. It would be put up by Monday or Tuesday,” he said.
Another organization Child Right Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP) working towards the equality of parenting rights among married men and women is participating in the movement to push the envelope further.
Kumar Jahangirdar, founder and president, CRISP said, “We did not participate in the celebrations Thursday to mark the country’s Independence Day. We, a group of men who are seeking parenting rights and joint custody of their child, are meeting in Nagpur on Friday to demand ‘freedom’ from women-centric laws.
Over 100 men from across the country would participate in today’s movement. CRISP, which has been fighting for the rights of fathers and children for more than five years, in partnership with Save Indian Family, has organised this annual event which would be conducted for fifth year in a row.
Among the issues slated for discussion during the summit are Marriage Laws Amendment Bill of 2010. “The law makers have an assumption that children always live with the mother and she alone is enough to protect the child’s welfare which is simply unscientific and against nature. It also violates the spirit of the Indian constitution,” Jahgirdar said.
The bill, he said, also allows the mother to claim paternal ancestral property and the children’s share of it, which can also lead to likely misappropriation by step-fathers and step-siblings.
“The government of the people seems to be more interested in women’s rights than innocent children’s rights, simply because children are not vote banks, though they represent more than 40 percent of our population,” he said.
Another member, a software engineer in Nagpur, said, “Men have no platform to lodge a complaint when they face harassment from their wives.”

Most of the time, he said, the wives extort money by lodging false dowry cases and even deny the right of a father to meet his children, even when he has the court’s consent.
“We urge society and its stakeholders to treat fathers with dignity and accept the scientific fact that children deserve their father’s natural love and care as much as their mother,” a statement from CRISP said.


https://www.nagpurtoday.in/its-freedom-friday-for-harassed-husbands-near-nagpur-independence-day-today/ 

'Harassed' hubbies to meet for men's rights

'Harassed' hubbies to meet for men's rights

Come August 16, Nagpur will be teeming with activists supporting the rights of disgruntled men from across the country. The three-day conference will tackle and debate the government’s draft bill, which contains an amendment in the Marriage Laws Bill.

The national meet, organised by the Nagpur chapter of the Save Indian Family Foundation, will be held at Pench Resorts and is the fifth such national meet after successes in Goa, Shimla, Yercaud and Kolkata in previous years.

The activists will, in particular, be discussing the draft bill on the Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage Law, which states that if a wife walks out a marriage within six months, she will be entitled to monthly spousal support. Apart from this, she will also be rewarded a portion of the any property the husband may have acquired before marriage, as well as part of his inheritable property, if any.

This bill has sent a panic wave among many young, high-earning men, who have termed the bill as extremely anti-male and anti-marriage.

The conference will also discuss the men’s rights movement and the steps necessary to be taken to increase awareness in this regard, especially to highlight the increasing suicide rate among men, and in particular, among married men.

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1874314/report-harassed-hubbies-to-meet-for-men-s-rights 

‘Rape cases will drop 70% if HC ruling is enforced’

‘Rape cases will drop 70% if HC ruling is enforced’

City lawyers handling domestic and family disputes have welcomed a recent judgement by the Bombay High Court (HC) stating that women filing false rape cases should be prosecuted.

Mens organisations have said that this judgement will help create a gender neutral society and if properly executed will help to bring down the number of rape cases by 70 per cent. They allege that most rape cases are filed after relations break down after consensual sex.

www.wikipedia.org

Justice Sadhna Jadhav of the HC on Wednesday observed that women who file rape cases in a fit of rage to fix their partners and later withdraw complaints, should be prosecuted.

She remarked that of late several cases were coming before the HC in which victims filed complaints alleging rape and contending that they had entered relationships after being promised marriage.

In a relationship between consenting adults, sometimes such complaints are filed in the heat of moment and withdrawn later. This has be-come a trend and sends wrong signal to the society, the judge observed on Wednesday.

The court cautioned the police to be vigilant and hold an initial inquiry to find out whether a rape complaint was genuine before registering the case.

The judge was hearing an anticipatory bail plea by Divyesh Vala (35), who admitted that he was in a relationship with a 42-year-old central excise inspector. He pleaded that he was falsely implicated and the case was causing him harm and agony.

The two had met through a social networking site and came close to each other after joining an Art of Living course. The woman alleged that she was raped by Vala, who promised to marry her. However, he married another woman and she felt cheated. Hence, she filed a complaint of rape.

The judge granted anticipatory bail to Vala for the sum of Rs 15,000 and asked him to report to the police station every Sunday until the investigation was over. The judge said it was not inclined to send Vala in custody because no useful purposes would be served in doing so, except satisfying the victim’s vendetta.

Talking to Mirror senior lawyer Milind Pawar said, “Some 90 per cent cases get registered just to satisfy vendetta after break ups. Though such cases are registered it is hard to prove them medically.”

In some cases, the Supreme Court has directed that FIRs in rape cases should be filed immediately, since later on it is difficult to prove it medically Pawar said. “This judgement will certainly teach a lesson to those who use the law to settle their own scores.”

Criminal layer Vijay Pamnani said, “In such rape cases the investigation officer’s role is very important to understand whether rape was actually committed or not. In the said case, the victim being a 42 years old, educated and  working as a central excise inspector knew very well that such a relationship is illicit in Indian society. I believe the HC has passed perfect orders considering facts of the case.”

Atit Rajpara, founder president of the Men’s Rights Association (MRA), Pune said, “Figures of increasing rape cases are only because of such false cases. Some women misuse the law like in domestic violence related cases.

In a recent survey, it was revealed that in Pune over 74 per cent cases of rape are consensual. We welcome this judgement as it has shown sensitivity towards men.”

However, lawyer Shirish Gade has a different opinion. He said, “As a criminal lawyer I believe that if the HC passes such orders against rape victim, those who wish to rape a girl will propose marriage and rape them. Unfortunately, victims won’t come forward due to such orders.

Additionally, in our society girls keep quiet about these serious offences as they are scared of society and fear nobody will marry them thereafter.”

http://www.punemirror.in/article/2/2013080220130802101256762a000d010/%E2%80%98Rape-cases-will-drop-70-if-HC-ruling-is-enforced%E2%80%99.html