International Men's Day Bike Rally and Dharna

19th November 2009 Mumbai.

"Indian male - hapless animal"; "women empowered men unpowered"; "husband not an ATM machine", "options for Indian male - be henpecked or handcuffed"... these are some of the messages flashed on placards by members of various organisations who had gathered at Azad Maidan on the occasion of International Men's Day on Thursday, to raise their voice against the perceived harassment of men at the hands of the Indian judicial system.


Members of the Indian Family Foundation (IFF), Protect Indian Family Foundation, Child's Right and Family welfare and the Save Indian Family Movement held a dharna to create awareness about the problems faced by men. A bike rally was also held, with many members from Pune participating.

The men particularly targeted section 498A, which they said is often misused by women to get husbands arrested for harassment. They shouted slogans against the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the misuse of the Domestic Violence Act, and demanded a separate ministry for men.

According to Bunty Jain, founder member, IFF, "Most cases where section 498A is invoked turn out to be false. Baseless allegations are made against men to extort money from them, and the law and the police support women, without making complete inquiries. The laws are wife-centric, not even woman-centric, because the husband's mother or sister is not taken into account," he said.

Jain, who calls himself a victim, had to pay a large sum of money to his wife as alimony and is now fighting the domestic violence case that his wife filed against him. "The Domestic Violence Act should be made gender-neutral," he said.

Rakesh Jaiswal, who was also part of the dharna, feels that the time has now come for men to fight for gender parity. His wife, who left him two years ago, slapped a section 498A dowry harassment case against him and demanded a huge sum as alimony." She earns about Rs2.5 lakh per annum, but I still have to pay her alimony. How is this fair?" he asked.

Another major concern is child custody, as the men feel it is always tougher for the father to be able to get custody of children. Many women were also part of dharna, most of them the mothers of "harassed" husbands. Borivli resident Kamal Kapadia, 59, claimed that her daughter-in-law made 23 allegations against her, all of them false.

Some of the moments captured in the digital format :-)
 

Click on below link, for more pictures of the event:
 
 http://picasaweb.google.com/send2jaspreet/BikeRallyMensDay2009

India mothers-in-law fight abuse

A group of Indian mothers-in-law have come together to fight the harassment they claim to endure at the hands of their daughters-in-law.

Fifty women have joined the All India Mothers-in-law Protection Forum (AIMPF), launched in Bangalore city.

A spokeswoman told the BBC that while there were 15 laws to protect the younger generation, there was nothing to protect mothers-in-law from abuse.

India's National Commission for Women has acknowledged the problem.

It says that cases against in-laws are often registered by brides who are protected by strict anti-dowry laws.

But a number of the accusations turn out to be false.

'As vamps'
"The mother-in-law is portrayed as a villain in our society," says Neena Thuliya, coordinator of AIMPF.

"In television serials, films and the media, we are shown as vamps. It's an age-old belief that the mother-in-law physically assaults and mentally tortures the daughter-in-law."

The AIMPF recently did a survey in Bangalore studying cases of abuse and torture filed against the mother-in-law.

Mrs Thuliya says that of the nearly 50 cases they researched, all turned out to be false allegations.

Dowries are often paid by bride's families in India
"There was a time when the daughter-in-law had to live with so many restrictions, but now the time has changed. Today's daughter-in-law is free and works outside the home. It's the old mother-in-law who now faces abuse at the hands of the daughter-in-law," Mrs Thuliya says.

"In tele-serials we are the villains, in real life we are the victims," she adds.

Mrs Thuliya says elderly women are sometimes thrown out of their homes by their daughters-in-law.

The forum, she says, will hold meetings every Sunday and will devise strategies to provide support to "harassed mothers-in-law".

The AIMPF says it will also campaign against the demonisation of the mother-in-law in popular culture.

For centuries, in many Indian families, daughters-in-law have been harassed for bringing in "inadequate dowry" - a South Asian tradition where the bride's parents give cash, jewellery and gifts to the groom's family.

The Indian government outlawed giving and accepting dowries in 1961, but the practice continues and even today few arranged marriages take place without an exchange of dowry.
Campaigners say the system has led to the abuse of young brides, making them vulnerable to domestic violence.

Every year, hundreds of women are scalded or even burned alive by their in-laws.
In the past few years, India has introduced several strict laws to protect new brides from abuse and torture.

But it is being accepted by the authorities that the laws are being increasingly misused by young women to harass their in-laws or settle scores.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8241275.stm

Shimla Declaration of the National Conference

Introduction:

Save Indian Family (SIF) movement is a non-funded, self-supported movement and has been formed with a multi-dimensional strategy to form at least 100 NGOs all over India working in the area of Men Welfare. On the 15th of August 2009, 100 leaders from at least 25 NGOs representing 40,000 members participated in a 2 day National Conference in Shimla with a resolution of not to celebrate the Independence Day on August 15 this year.

Brief Background:

Leaders of the SIF movement feel that India is not an independent and a democratic country because men in general and married men in particular are being discriminated against to the point that their constitutional rights are being infringed and challenged especially those granted under Articles 14,15,20 and 21 of the Indian Constitution – the mother of all Indian laws.

1. Article 21 of the Constitution provides for Right to Liberty, however today one unverified complaint of mental and/or physical harassment from the wife under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code lands a man and his old parents, pregnant sister and minor children behind bars and his Right to Liberty is challenged as neither is any investigation being done to verify the tenacity of the complaint nor evidence is collected to corroborate the allegations.
2. Article 20 of the Constitution says that no person shall be tried twice for the same offence, however, in marital matters the man and his family face multiple litigations/prosecutions/trials for the same alleged cause of action under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, Domestic Violence Act, Section 125 CrPC (maintenance), Section 24 of the Hindu marriage Act, Divorce case, child custody case etc. These multiple and parallel litigations for same alleged offence clearly and blatantly violates Article 20 of the Indian Constitution.
3. Article 15 of the Constitution says that for the weaker sections of the society including women and children, the Govt. shall provide for Special Provisions to work for their welfare. Nowhere does it give the Govt. the liberty to formulate special, redundant and gender biased laws against the natural principles of Cardinal Justice. However, the laws mentioned above have been formulated and this practice is in violation of the Article 15 of the Constitution of India.
4. Article 14 of the Constitution provides for Right to Equality before law. However, in Domestic Violence Act, firstly men are not provided protection against domestic abuse from their wives and in-laws and secondly the complainant woman’s sole testimony is considered as evidence of violation of protection order enough to convict the man. Both these practices do not place men and women at equal footing before the law as men face severe discrimination and their Constitutional right under Article 14 is challenged.

Under such a scenario, the men’s rights NGOs under the aegis of the SIF movement have lost the significance of celebrating Independence Day as they feel India is not a democratic country but a fascist country where arbitrary arresting a particular section of the society is considered as social service. SIF Leaders feel celebrating Independence in a country, where the Constitutional Rights of men are not respected, is like insulting freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandrashekhar Azad, etc.

Major Concerns:

• 123,000 innocent women (mothers, sisters and other female relatives of men) have been arrested in the four years period (2004 – 2007) whereas even the so called “Barbaric British Govt.” arrested only 40,000 women in 40 years.
• Every year on an average 55200 married men are committing suicides with the number shooting to 57593 for 2007 vis-à-vis 30000 married women as per National Crime Records Bureau. Whose life is in more danger? Is the pain of a mother/sister less when she loses a son/brother?
• 98% of dowry harassment cases filed against men have been found to be false and it is the wife’s family who has been extorting money from the man by treating them as FREE ATM MACHINE by threatening them with false allegations and dragging them into frivolous and malicious prosecution.
• In the five years span (2001 – 2006) an estimated 13,00,000 men have lost their jobs – a vast majority of them due to frivolous and arbitrary arrests – whereas 14,00,000 women have gained employment. Who needs empowerment, men or women?
• Men pay 82% of the taxes and more tax than women at the same salary level.

Action Points:

• SIF declares Section 498A of the IPC and Domestic Violence Act as Unconstitutional and demands a National Level Committee be setup which would include SIF Leaders as well to investigate into the constitutionality of these laws.
• Institute National Commission for men to study men’s issues and give recommendations to the Govt.
• Form Men’s Welfare Ministry to address men’s issues.
• Replace the word “Husband” and “Wife” with “Spouse” and “Man” and “Woman” with “Person".

Source: SIF Press Release

Join Save Indian Family Movement......

Hard times for software guys

Source: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jul/170709-Techies-Harrassed-Husbands-40-percent-Save-India-Family-Foundation-Bangalore.htm

About 40 per cent of harassed husbands in the city are techies, study finds

Techies earning fat salaries are the most harassed among Bangalore husbands.

A study carried out by Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), a city based NGO, reveals that software professionals make up about 40 per cent of the total number of harassed husbands.

Huge pay packets make techies soft targets, say members of the foundation who carried out the study over 15 months.

"The study is shocking," said Panduranga Katti, president of SIFF. "Software professionals getting huge benefits from companies is a known fact and wives are misusing this every day. In most cases, wives demand money and threaten to complain to the police."

The share

SIFF, which works to empower harassed husbands through its website and branches across the nation, studied about 1,100 cases in Bangalore from January 2008 to April 2009.

After the techies, came men with private businesses. They constituted 11.7 per cent of the cases. Husbands from administration and the military made up about 10 per cent of the cases.

Legal help for hassled hubbies

Men in government service, heavy engineering and management, and the finance sector made up 7.8, 7 and 6.3 per cent of the total cases respectively.

The study included professionals, who approached the NGO through the internet. While 73 per cent of the cases approached SIFF through its website http://www.indianfamily.org/, the rest approached them through friends.

Help

SIFF plans to empower harassed husbands by providing them with legal support based on court judgments.
"Besides legal help, we will empower husbands through sessions of basic strategies and tactics. This will be done step by step," said Virag Dhulia, member, SIFF.

What women want
This is how wives harass husbands, according to the study:
>>Demanding money and threatening to file police complaints
>>Wanting parents to be sent away from the house
>>Forcing the husband to buy property
>>Adultery

Peaceful Protest against Dowry Law Misuse

To highlight the issues of the misuse of dowry and other gender laws such as IPC 498A, Dowry Prohibition Act (DP Act), Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), CrPC 125 (maintenance), Hindu marriage Act (HMA), and others, Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) a non-govermental organization is organizing a peaceful protest in Bangalore, India.

Here is what the organizer had to say in the press release:

Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), an NGO dedicated to promote the cause of Gender Equality and Family Harmony, is organizing a peaceful protest against the deteriorating Indian family culture due to rampant misuse of Section 498A IPC, Domestic Violence Act and the dowry laws. The protest will be held on the 14th February 2009 on M.G.Road in front of Mahatma Gandhi Statue from 10: 00 AM to 1 PM. Nearly 150 people from all walks of life like, Engineers, Doctors, Businessmen, Service class, Government Employees, Software Professionals, NRIs, Chartered Accountants, Finance Consultants to name a few will be joining us in our endeavor to raise voice against this spreading “Legal Terrorism”.

Read the complete press release here

International Men’s day events in Mumbai

We, Protect India n Family Foundation, are a part of global group of NGOs and local self-help groups ((wherever Indian-NRI families live) and responsible Indian citizens who are concerned about the future of Indian families and hence our future as a Nation by and large. Our network is made up of like minded persons and NGOs who have dedicated their souls in bringing back the 'meaning' and happiness of "Family", back to at least(for a start) Indian families.

For this result we are trying to work on different fronts including Child rights for shared parenting (as per the welfare of the child, keeping its development as prime in our minds). You could see the website of our sister NGO, CRISP(Children’s Right Initiative for Shared Parenting) www.crisp-india.org for more on this front.

The next avenue that we are exploring is to change the mindset of public in general and hence higher authorities including law-makers, that 'Man' is not always the tormentor, he actually deserves a hug many a times for his selfless efforts for the upkeep of his family and for his dedicated loyalty and hard work which he makes for this Nation of ours, as we all can witness.

Many a times a ‘Man’ is not only denied of this well deserved 'reward' of a simple hug, but he is also brandished as a cruel, in-humane and an insensitive partner/player(by default) in any social setting(let alone familial situations). This is why we see people taking sides even without bothering to 'verify the facts of the specific situation', this bias is shockingly evident in cases when a man is accused of indiscretions/cruelty made out towards a woman (women)- he sometimes bears the burnt of being a 'Man' per se- due to his image been "Stereotyped", almost as that of a typically insensitive “Animal”!, almost a perfect animal, which only thinks just about pleasures of various kinds, and then Food(may be TV too comes as a strong ingredient in this imagery of a stereotypically consumerist 'Man').


This scenario, as many of you also would acknowledge, is far from the reality with respect to even the 'average' man living in our present day society, and is hence detrimental for the upkeep of our time-tested family system, which is by far the single most important factor which is almost single-handedly supporting India and stopping it from plunging into the abyss of unfathomable anarchy, unrest and thence total destruction. And this is a shocking trend, which if left unchecked, could eventually gobble up the entire great Indian population clean, in no time at all.


As a net result, men are seen to be losing their rights, and even denied of their emotional needs, such as their need, and right, of being there for their children, especially when they need a father in their most sensitive & critical developmental years. Even lets, for a minute, forget a father's need to see these days of his kid, to be a part of these days and experience a bit of joy, which is one among the few life-forces which sustains life and enthusiasm in most of us as, work horses, err …. Men.


Even in this case too, forgetting a Man’s need to be his kids, considering just the rights and need of children to have a balanced development, the situation would point itself towards the need for having a caring father around, along with its mother around a child, for its proper development as a responsible citizen of this good earth!.


Children need both parents (as far as either parent is not insane, or proves negative in their net influence over children’s development and psyche) for shaping up to those wonderful people they can become with proper nurturing and love from both parents(who needs to put aside their differences, how much ever the degree of differences they have between two of them).


Men’s day events

Protect Indian Family Foundation(PIFF), NGO, Mumbai (Member of the Save Indian Family (SIF) Network), are planning a Bike and Car rally on 19th November, 2008 (Proposed Time: 2.30 to 4.30 pm ).


This event is a part of an important campaign by Protect Indian Family, Mumbai and its associate NGOs in Delhi, Bangalore, Lucknow, Nagpur, Kolkata, Hyderabad(who are all conducting similar such events in conjunction to International men’s day) and several other NGOs and Local groups under the aegis of Save Indian Family Foundation umbrella group.


Brief details of the Vehicle Rally

We expect around 60 bikes and 20 cars to participate. The objective of this Rally will be to bring Awareness about the misuse of laws concerning families (IPC 498a, Domestic Violence Act, etc.), which wrecking many families in India and abroad (wherever Indians live). This is also to commemorate the international Men’s day, which falls on November 19th.


Following this vehicle rally, at the culmination point(Bandra Family Court), we will be submitting a Memorandum of our demands and concerns to the Principle Judge, Mumbai Family Court, Bandra, along with other relevant authorities.

Contact Persons: P.R.Gokul- 9322156141, M.R.Gupta – 9869323538
Proposed Route
City Civil/Session Court (Mayo Road) to Bandra Family Court

(Roads planned: Starting from ; Opp. City Civil Court on Karamvir Bhaurao Patil

Marg (Mayo Road) – Woudby Road – Capital Cinema – Nagar Chowk – D.N. Road

– Crowford Market – L.T. Road – Mohamed Ali Road – Sir. J.J. Road – N.M. Joshi

Road (Delisle Road) – Gokhale Road (North) – Lady Jamshetji Road – Mahim

Causeway – Western Express Highway – Kala Nagar – B.K.C. Family Court)

This event is being planned by Protect Indian Family (www.protectindianfamily.org), Mumbai, NGO-Member of Save Indian Family (www.saveindianfamily.org) & SIF’s Media Flagship- SIF Times (www.siftimes.com)


We hope that these efforts will go a long way in bringing back the tranquility at home, since charity begins at Home. And since home is the fountainhead of life force, lets nurture the tranquility in Indian families, to ultimately pave way for a stronger Nation. Looking forward to your cooperation and active participation.


Save Indian Family (SIF) is a strong team of dedicated families comprising of victims of "misuse of 498a and other Gender biased Women-Protection laws like Dowry Prohibition Act, Domestic Violence Act, etc.", including NRIs, Senior citizens who campaign and create awareness about gross injustice and abuse that happen in Indian Legal system. SIF has over 30 NGOs and 50,000 families as its members across the globe.


Protect Indian Family Foundation (PIFF), Mumbai is a member NGO of the SIF network, based in Mumbai, looking after related issues for entire Maharashtra and beyond.


Help-line Numbers:
Mumbai: 9869323538(M.R.Gupta), 9224335577, 9322156141(Rotating lines)
Delhi: 9810611534
Kolkata: 9830151555
Chennai: 9884607376
Hyderabad: 09848280354
Bangalore: 9845143724

Pune: 9923056460
More help-lines at: http://mynation.net/contact-us & http://www.savefamily.org/index.php?Itemid=65&option=com_content



Supported by :
www.saveindianfamily.org
www.mynation.net
www.savefamily.org
www.asha-kiran.org
www.sahanaindia.org
www.ghrs.in
www.forgottenwomen.org
www.protectindianfamily.org
www.mensday.in
www.antidowry.org
www.498a.org

Thanks
Protect Indian Family Foundation, Maharashtra
Mumbai Contacts: +91 9869323538, 9224335577, 9322156141,
Email: help@protectindianfamily.org | Web: www.protectindianfamily.org

Black March, on the 2nd Anniversary of Domestic Violence Act, Sunday, 26th October 2008

A “ Black March”, on the 2nd Anniversary of Domestic Violence Act, Sunday, 26th October 2008 - near Charni Road Chowpatti(Birla Kreeda Kendra to Wilson College), Mumbai, on 26th October 2008 from 5.00 pm to 7:00 pm. Please find the press release of this event and a 'memo to media' attached in this email.

This 'Black March' is an awareness(the general public and authorities need to know and acknowledge that no one is immune to this dangerous trend) cum protest event against the gender-biased and misuse-prone women-protection laws, especially the newly introduced Domestic Violence Act(Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act- ie. PWDVA) on its 2nd Anniversary date

The DV act came into force on 26th October 2006, and it was indeed a black day for Indian families, since it was one more nail in the coffin of the institution called marriage, due to its bias and propensity to be misused.

If the government really wanted domestic violence in families to be addressed, why didn't they make it gender-neutral like in other countries where such laws exist(especially in USA, which is the model/inspiration of DV Act in India. Right now a man cannot get relief under DV Act even if he is tormented in a family/domestic relation).

DV Act is just one law which is breaking Indian families because of their wrongful/fraudulent misuse by unscrupulous wives/her advisors. The other laws which are being misused are IPC 498a, Dowry Prohibition Act. For example , in case of IPC 498a there is only 2% conviction as per CSR study report, but all arrests are without investigation or evidence, just on the basis of an unverified complaint by a wife!. 1.2 lakh women have been arrested in the last 4 years alone, apart from over 1000 children and 18,000 senior citizens and a total of 5.34 lakh persons! have been arrested and traumatized by wrongful litigations for an average of 8 years!.

Families disintegrate without any chance of reconciliation when these kind of skewed family-breaking laws are misused, and that’s the same reason why we are protesting against them and spreading awareness to generate public opinion against these anti-family, harmony-wrecking, misuse-prone and draconic laws

Save Indian Family' activists' hold national meet

The 'Save Indian Family' activists' national meet to discuss strategies to intensify the campaign against misuse of gender biased laws, turned out to be more than strategy discussion full of fun and banter, followed by an awards function.


IT WAS the enigmatic ambience of Goa and the serene silence, decorated with the soothing sea waves of the beach that sparked the mood for the national meet of Goa for the 60 odd leaders and activists of the ’Save Indian Family’ campaign. Having had assembled for their proposed national meet, as reported by leading national dailies viz The Times of India, Deccan Chronicle to name a few, to discuss strategies to intensify their campaign against the misuse of gender biased laws, the meet turned out to be more than just strategy discussion as the event started with fun and banter followed by an awards function.

After introduction by the key members, the individual Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) working and sharing concerns with the Save Indian Family Foundation that had sent their representatives came forward to discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Those present were from

Save Indian Foundation, Bangalore and Nagpur,
Indiya Kudumba Pathukappu Iyakkam Chennai,
Save Family Foundation and MyNation Foundation Delhi,
Pati Pariwar Kalyan Samiti, Lucknow,
Protect Indian Family, Mumbai,
Sahana, Hyderabad,
Bharat Bachao Sangathan, Kolkata and
Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), Bangalore.

The NGOs as mentioned above and in the order presented their individual strengths and weaknesses. This discussion worked as the first step towards consolidation of strategies and brainstorming of steps to strengthen the movement in general. Newly upcoming Chattisgarh NGO had also sent its wishes and message via the representative of the Nagpur NGO.

Kumar Jahgirdar, the president of CRISP, discussed the vision and mission of CRISP and a collective goal was set to achieve regional expansion of CRISP in to new geographies. Members from national chapters expressed their solidarity and support by filling in the membership forms for CRISP. The event also marked the launch of the website of CRISP by the name of Crisp-India.

The discussion was followed by splitting the members present into five separate task groups of five -- seven members each on an average. Each of the task group was assigned a topic and was given 90 minutes to come up with a comprehensive strategy to be implemented in the concerned area of development. The areas of development were,

1. How to expand into new geographies and how to retain and grow the existing chapters?
2. Effective counselling techniques for newly joined victims who face abuse and approach the NGOs.
3. Effective lobbying techniques with the authorities and create the desired level of visibility for the Save Indian Family movement.
4. Calendar of events for the next one year.
5. More and potential areas of research.

After the stipulated time, the individual task groups came up with ideas/strategies in their respective areas and also the challenges currently faced in that area. The same were discussed, noted and the activists will be working on improvement of these areas to strengthen the movement and make the cause more audible and visible.

With so much of brainstorming happening since morning, the need for the day was a break, which came as a surprise event in the form of an award function mainly aimed to act as a motivating tonic to identify key contributions, both individual and group. Five categories of awards were designed and various nominations were identified and the final awards were compiled by a jury formed of the senior most leaders of the movement. The categories of nominations were:

Lifetime achievement award – This award went to the oldest member of the movement who has been a victim and has been raising voice against this misuse in the Internet since the past nine years.
Best chapter award – This award went to the Nagpur NGO, which has emerged as the fastest growing chapter by utilising all the knowledge that is available and converted the same in to an executable plan and achieved some wonderful results in a very short span of time.

Most outstanding contribution – This award went to the vociferous fighter of the Save Indian Family Campaign, which has written the bible for the victims of the abuse in the form of the “498a Survival Kit.”

Best fight back strategy – This award went to the commando, who was instrumental in getting justice to one of those unfortunate 56,000 married men who commit suicide. This relates back to the suicide by Pushkar Singh of Lucknow being unable to bear the torture of a false case against him of dowry harassment by his wife and in- laws. Inspite of the suicide note left behind, clearly accusing his wife and in-laws of his suicide, as the authorities were restraining themselves in taking action, our commando mobilised and motivated 35 members from Delhi and UP to raise voice against the grave injustice and ensure restoration of faith in the criminal justice system.

Influencing the authorities - This award went to our legal stalwarts team, the Chennai NGO for being successfully instrumental in bringing to task 11 police officers ranging from a head constable, right up to the dy comm of police for negligence of duty and violation of human rights principles. They have been summoned by the National Human Rights Commission. Normally such a huge number of officers are summoned in case of communal riots. But this is the first time that in an individual case does one get to see such an attempt to repair miscarriage of justice.
Having, thus, completed the awards ceremony, the team headed towards dinner and happy hours of informal mingling and experience sharing and further discussions of improvement areas and finally parted for the day.

The second day of the meet was more of a culmination than a continuation, which started with rejuvenation and ended with celebration on the end of a successful meet. It has been decided that the annual meet continue for reviewing the strategies and identifying rooms of improvement.

Men cry equality on women’s day

August 26 is Women’s Equality Day. And this time it will see men crying for equal rights on the streets.

Hundreds of “harassed” husbands, including IIT and IIM grads, engineers, doctors, lawyers and NRIs, will gather at Jantar Mantar on Sunday as part of the countrywide protest against dowry harassment and the more recent domestic violence laws. "We are all victims of these biased laws,” says Swarup Sarkar of Save Indian Family Foundation, the organiser.

Men argue that these laws have exposed them to harassment at the hands of their wives. “A woman simply has to utter ‘dowry harassment’ and everybody she names is promptly put behind bars without any evidence, investigation or witness,” says NS Das, a product of IIT Delhi and IIM-A, who is now fighting dowry charges.

"Guilty until proven innocent — that’s the gist of Section 498A of the IPC, the dowry harassment law," says another IITian Ved Prakash.

Terming the protest a "malicious propaganda", Ranjana Kumari, director of Centre for Social Research, says, "Section 498A is the only provision under the dowry law that allows a woman to save her life. Other sections come into force after the woman is killed."

The Ant & The Grasshopper..

Ant & Grasshopper

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs, dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.


Modern Version

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.

Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.

Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .

Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes,it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it 'A Triumph of Justice'.

Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.

CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '

Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly


Many Years Later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley …

100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ...

As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country…!!!

Supreme Court puts break on Quota Express - Right or Wrong?

In a setback to pro-reservationists, the Supreme Court stayed the central law providing for 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in elite educational institutions like IITs and IIMs.

The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation.

However, IIMs and IITs have decided to go by Centre's decision on quota issue.

All political parties have come together to raise their voice against the stay for the very simple reason of saving their vote bank. In a live interview with one of the News Channel one politician defended the quota reservation saying that there is no quota in the final exams hence whoever has the talent will passout and become Doctor or Engineer. Absolutely right, but what about those students who would be denied admission because the seat is reserved for so called OBCs.

We talk a lot about equality yet our law divides its own citizens based on their cast and creed. Is it ethical? Is n't the right time has come to stop all this nonsense? If political circle believes that OBC/SC/ST students could not compete with others then why not provide training to them and make them competent rather than just reserving seats for them.

OR at least spare institutes like IITs and IIMs from this quota virus.

IIMs and IITs to go by Centre's decision on quota issue

Putting the ball in the HRD Ministry's court, IIMs and IITs today said they would go by the directive of the Government on providing 27 per cent reservation for other backward classes (OBCs).
These top institutions were reacting to the Supreme Court order staying the law extending 27 per cent reservation for OBCs.

"Now the Common Admission Test(CAT) Group will meet soon and decide regarding the OBC quota admission on the basis of the communication received" from the HRD Ministry, IIM- Ahmedabad Director Bakul Dholakia told reporters.

Voicing similar views, Directors of IIM-Kolkata and IIT- Kharagpur Shekhar Choudhury and S K Dubey respectively told PTI that they would go by the Centre's decision on the reservation issue.

IIT-Guwahati Director Gautam Barua said his institution would await the final verdict of the apex court to decide its future course of action.

The IIM-A had decided to increase the seats phasewise in a span of three years to complete the 27 per cent quota,. Dholakia said in Ahmedabad, noting that it wanted to increase this year six per cent seats in the first phase based on the order of the HRD ministry.

The IIMs will complete the admission process for this year by April 12, Dholakia added.

Sources in the IIM-A, however, said it would be impossible for the institute to implement the six per cent OBC quota in this academic year as the next hearing on the case will take place in the apex court in August and IIM-A will be completing the admission process by April 12.

This means that the admission procedure will done this year without the OBC quota, the sources said. (Source: PTI)