I joined this portal today, the idle Saturday in the aftermath of Diwali 2010 - a Diwali, needless to say, that I had spent alone, as I have been for the past five Diwalis, and Christmasses, and Durga Pujas, and Birthdays ....
One of the first topics that caught my attention on this forum was authored by Hema (Family Law>STOP MISUSE OF THIS PORTAL), stridently objecting to attempts - through this forum - to advocate and promote the Save Indian Family Foundation citing - correctly I am sure - how such attempts went against the very tenets of this portal. Her appeal was promptly seconded by Ms. Renuka. Strangely, the subsequent postings in response - at least the ones I glanced through, all coincidentally by members of the not-so-fair-s*x, were not so critical about such 'MISUSE'.
I wonder, what is this forum for anyway ? For that matter, what is LAW for ? I thought that the very purpose of having laws, rules, justice et al was to save the family, the individual, the group, the society, the human race ..... why is it that the very mention of SIFF - however misplaced or misdirected they may (or may not) be - raised the hackles of two (coincidentally) ladies on this forum ?
Is, unknown to us all, a gender divide being subliminally created in our society ?
I do not believe that our parents had any such foreboding; after all they did not have to tackle even conceptual implications of 498A's or DV Acts or even have to digest a legal dictum that refuses to categorise an adulterous married woman with an equally adelterous married man. Gender equality in those times were achieved through educated perceptions and not draconian laws.
Remember apartheid ? Was it quelled with Botha's guns ? It was resolved by a generation which had matured enough to promote equality of skin pigmentation despite the fact that this meant 'giving up' many privileges of being born white.
The oppressed woman of India, and YES, they have been and continue to be oppressed under various circumstances - who are rapidly beginning to be perceived as a massive vote bank, a potential magic symbol of human rights 'restored' – are now being empowered by our lawmakers. These laws are powerful tools which have to be handled and used astutely to battle such historical oppression. Unfortunately everyone is in a hurry and therefore new tools are used without anyone bothering to read the instruction manual. As a result, such tools metamorphose to a weapon of destruction in the hands of a section of urban women who are now able to generate excellent and continued profits from the marriage-torture-divorce-alimony cycle. Rural women – who could have been the true beneficiaries – receive no succour from these laws and the gender imbalance, traditionally limited to the man-on-top version has now has now spawned a deadly alter ego – the urban woman-on-top version in addition to the traditional evil.
No wonder the intelligent society cries out for a SIFF or a CRISP.
And no wonder, a section of the urban Indian woman, cannot stand these.
Man & woman have both co-existed for ever. We still can. We men need to change as do the new breed of women. Let us not become puppets for manipulation in the hands of our lawmakers.
We will be punishing our children most, if we allow that to happen.