It is fashionable of late for men to show that they are all for women empowerment. They naively believe that feminism is about equality and proudly proclaim that they are feminists. They don't realize that their own rights have been trampled in the name of equality.
The prevailing conditions in the West are not the same as they are in India. Women in the USA got voting rights after 140 years of declaration of Independence, whereas all got voting rights in India at the time of Independence. Woman as a mother is revered in India whereas it is the wife who is held on a pedestal in the west.
USA is yet to get a woman President. India had a woman as its Prime Minister and quite a number of them have been Chief Ministers of the states. A whole spectrum of leaders can be observed from those who rose up the ranks to those who were privileged to be in a prominent Family. The woman Prime Minister was responsible for invoking Emergency and wrecking havoc on the democratic institutions of the nation. One also needn't be surprised to find that few of them are involved in multi-crore scams as crime has no gender.
Over the years, the western set of notions has crept in and is thriving. Joint families were prevalent during our grand parent's time. Nuclear families were prevalent during our parent's time. In the current times, we can see that a nuclear family is no longer the basic building block of the society. Fathers are treated as expendables and considered only as an ATM in the eventuality of a divorce. India will leap frog and over-take the west in creating a dysfunctional society soon if a course correction is not done.
A rational thinking person will surely question the absurdity of framing gender biased laws for gender neutral crimes. On the contrary, there are 48 laws favoring women and not a single one for men. How can anti-male laws be framed if a patriarchy is thriving? One only wonders what would happen if the women reservation becomes a reality in the Indian Parliament (More anti-male laws).
People have been hopeful of Modi Sarkar to do a course correction but are yet to see any signs of Acche Din.
- IPC 498a - Supreme Court has stated it as Legal Terrorism - Making it compoundable for curbing misuse is laughable. Has it been effective in Andhra Pradesh, where it is compoundable? Then on what basis is the Modi Sarkar going ahead with amendments to make it compoundable instead of making it bailable or even better to scrap it.
- Domestic Violence Act - The Madras High Court Bench here has observed that Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 suffers from inherent flaws which tempt women to misuse their provisions and men to dread being prosecuted under the law without any rhyme or reason.
- Rape - Tougher rape law leading to increase in false cases?
- Do you find them working in hazardous conditions (coal miners, high-rise window cleaners, truck drivers, fire fighters)?
- Are woman soldiers deployed in combat role (yet they talk of equality)?
Most ironic expectation - Demanding equality and yet expecting chivalrous behavior from men!
Let us work for real equality. Yes to Women Empowerment but a big NO to Suppression of Men.
