Last week, Indian Men’s Human Rights Activists burned effigies of Law Minister Kapil Sibal to protest against the passing of an anti-male no fault divorce law in Upper House of Parliament.
According to this law, a woman can oppose the divorce petition filed by husband on the grounds of grave financial hardship, but a husband has no such rights. This law empowers the courts to give a share of husband’s self acquired, inherited and inheritable property to his wife apart from ordering the husband to pay alimony or maintenance. If a property can not be divided, then the husband has to pay the wife an amount equivalent to the share of the property he is ordered to give. Indian MHRAs have little trust in family courts.
According to Transparency International, 36% of India’s Judiciary is corrupt. [1] MHRAs feel courts will be filled with property brokers and auction agents once this law is enacted. They also feel men will lose all of their property paying lawyer fees as well as paying additional money to buy peace from false dowry cases filed by wives.
MHRAs from the eastern city of Kolkata gathered together shouting anti-government slogans denouncing the undemocratic, unconstitutional behavior of the Government. According to Article 14 of Indian Constitution, no person must be discriminated on the basis of religion, caste or gender. The provisions in this no fault divorce law clearly violate this article of the constitution.
Most posters in this protest are written in the Bengali Language, the 6th most common language in the world spoken by 2.6% of world’s population.
[1]http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=87139
