TIME TO WAKE UP & UNITE FOR ALL INDIAN WOMEN AGAINST PROPOSED AMENDMENT IN HINDU MARRIAGE ACT 1955 & SPECIAL MARRIAGE ACT,1954
It is no secret that India is a male dominated society. The recent amendment in Hindu Marriage Act will only increase male dominance. If this amendment makes it easier to get a divorce by mutual consent only then it is a good move but irretrievable breakdown of marriage as an independent ground for divorce will be devastating for the society & a mockery of marriage will be made.
- Marriage is solemnized when both boy & girl decides to tie the knot so dissolution of marriage should also be by mutual consent only or if one party wants divorce then it should prove the fault of other as in present act.(various grounds for divorce : adultery,cruelty,desertion and mental illness). Irretrievable breakdown changes the terms of divorce from a fault basis to no fault basis.It
means any of the two adults in a marriage can unilaterally terminate it for any reason they please.
- With this amendment the Hindu wives have been painted as money seeking whores. The bill has reduced a Hindu wife to that of a prostitute. We really condemn the gross demeaning of sisters & mothers.
- Divorce is alien to Hindu culture. Adding irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground will be a blow to Indian family values. People will work out of commitment of marriage even at the drop of a hat. Men have always been polygamous & just need an excuse to go for newer pastures. Social security of women will be totally in danger if the amendment is made. More than 68% of our population lives in villages. The social stigma attached to unmarried women & divorced women are so strong that most parents would rather see their daughters dead than to have then get a divorce and return permanently to parental home. It will have adverse effect on children who will start hating the Govt and the Judicial System on seeing their mothers always crying and leading miserable stigmatic life while looking at their fathers having luxurious life with ever changing new partners.
- Adding this as a ground means that when ever any wife will try to complaint to police against her harassing husband then her husband will threaten her to file for divorce. The only option for a wife will be to remain quite & bear every wrong.
- After this amendment Hindu wives remedy against a husband seeking divorce & who is willing to throw money on her face is only to claim ‘financial hardship’ but what about when the man is 4th class laborer & even if otherwise how many people are disclosing their incomes in a fair manner. Our socio economic scenario is totally different from west & it will be that for another few decades. Let India be developed nation first where there are no dowry deaths, no female foeticide, no female infanticide, no gender inequality and after wards this ground may be added. India ranks a poor 114th in gender equality in the world economic future (WEF) the Global Gender Gap Index 2009 ranking. India has the highest no of women dying because of discriminatory treatment in access to healthcare & nutrition, s*x selective abortions & infanticide, in the Asia-Pacific region according to UNDP report.
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Some people support this amendment because they say that
:-1. This amendment will ease agony of parties in the court & will reduce the pendency of cases in court.
But who says the pendency of cases can be reduced in this way only. Govt can set up more family courts, appoint more judges for ensuring speedy trials. It can even fix the number of hearings and a time limit for every case. It is fundamental rule of law that may be hundred wrong doers are acquitted but no innocent should get punished wrongly. But here on the pretext of reducing pendency in courts govt is putting at stake the future of innocent women, children and culture of the country. More over, the number of divorce cases will increase manifold which is not good for society.
2. Women file false cases u/s 498A (Dowry Act) , DV, Cv PC 125 etc and accuse all (most) of the husband’s family members for mentally, physically harassing her for dowry.
But why one forgets that women have a harder time taking rounds of courts for years together, besides facing verbal and emotional abuses from their own family members, lawyers, police officers etc. Only circumstances drive her to the court/police where she is forced when torture she faces become unbearable. Also, Sec 24 does treat man & woman equal while seeking compensation but why men always attack this section? Because as they are earning, they are not entitled to any thing under this section. More over amount granted as maintenance is always very meager which is not even sufficient to meet both ends.
I think all women should unite and show the real picture other wise the times to come are going to be even worse for women and children. The law is really very dangerous. If passed it will be more lethal than the explosion of Nuclear Bomb. By giving woman another label as ‘educated and working’ the man exploits the woman even further. The Govt should shed its short sightedness and immediately
withdraw the proposed amendment in Hindu Marriage Act 1955 & Special Marriage Act,1954 that tends to make irretrievable breakdown of marriage as an independent ground for divorce.
