NAGPUR: An old joke goes, there is an annual Women's Day to remind them that the rest of the days in the year belong to men. Apparently, that is not the case any more, because since the first few years of this decade November 19 is being celebrated as International Men's Day.

Many male members of the Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), have announced plans to go on unpaid leave, at whatever office they may work in, till November 19. They want to highlight the plight of men who are suffering due to the misuse of laws originally meant to aid and empower women.

SIFF is predominantly an organisation of husbands who claim that they have been embroiled in false cases by their wives under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code and the Domestic Violence Act (DVA). Some women who claim to have been wrongfully charged by their sisters-in-law or daughters-in-law under the same laws too are members of SIFF.

The protests leading up to International Men's Day are unique indeed, as there is no specific organisation working for the men, as opposed to the hundreds of feminist organisations working across the country for the upliftment of women.

Speaking to TOI on Sunday, Rajesh Vakharia, a member of Nagpur's SIFF unit, said that the unpaid leave initiative would be picked up by male members in all parts of the country, including cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, Nagpur, Raipur, Durg, Bhilai, Pune, Surat, Indore and New Delhi.

In a press communique released by SIFF, they claim there is little antagonism towards women in their minds. The bulk of the ire is directed at the two laws which provide a handful of women and their supporters the chance to milk apparently hapless husbands in terms of money. The SIFF members see providing maintenance and other services, and later, alimony, as a part of this oppression. SIFF also wants to highlight the plight of fathers who have not seen their children for years at end, because of the whims of their former wives.

 

For more reference:

Demand Mass leave from all corporate and Business House on International Mens' Day.

 

Even the Hard Core Women Minister, Ms. Renuka Chawdhary, also earler accepted in HT News ( 31st Oct,2007):

” Men can’t be treated as Problem. They have to be Part of Solutions.”
Still our Prime minister prefers to keep his silence and ignore the same need for common man of India. Once he mentioned he can’t sleep when a man in Austrila falsy arrested, but he get very sound sleep when lacks of Indian men arrested, humulated, lost thier job, lost thier life due to such Legal Terrorism in india in false and fabricated cases( see the crime bure report every year more than 56000 indian husbands ending their life in un-naterail death and all thier criminal wife moving freely in this society, no action had been taken), which is very much unfortuante.

Proposal to Indian Government to Form Ministry of Men’s Well Fare .