Monsoon season is described in so many romantic ways everywhere. But this monsoon was special for Men's Rights Movement. All the Men's Rights Activists (MRAs) decided to knock at the doors of parliamentarians this monsoon. A planned, energetic mission was started.
'Bell Bajao' in a different way, be it email or sms, post card campaign or meeting MPs. Why it was important? What was the emergency?
We all know how the world around us is anti-men. We all know how men are blamed for everything. Whatever be the condition 'Man' is the usual suspect always. This mentality influences the law making process too. No law maker ever thought about making laws to protect men. Men were fooled in the name of 'women'. They made laws for women and made men to suffer because of it. No men ever protested against it, rather I would say when these laws were made our parents were sitting quietly. A whole generation suffered because of that. But now some MEN stood up and said 'enough is enough'. No more anti-male laws. And the new challenge waiting them was 'Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill 2010'.
We MRAs decided to stop it at any cost, so that gennext don't not suffer like us. All the campaigns started, the letters, the emails, SMSes and the MP out reach program. Visiting MPs door to door and asking them to stop the “talibani inhuman bill was in our daily schedule. A bill which doesn’t allow husband to protest against the divorce, a bill which gives right to women on husband’s property (ancestral ) is against the basic human right.
Reaching out to MPs started on a rainy day. Team started with umbrellas to visit MPs and making them understand how dangerous the bill is not only for the society but for the whole country. We were welcomed by most of the MPs. Some were surprised to hear about 'men’s right'. After all they had heard only about women rights till now, they had heard about how women were harassed from ages.
Like the popular perception in the society, their perception was also that 'the men' are responsible for this harassment and suppression. It was important to teach them that men are not responsible for everything. Some MPs agreed that for the sake of women, men's basic rights are neglected. But they were scared that if they will say this in public they will be considered 'anti-women'.
MPs agreed on misuse of laws and seriously wanted to do something about it. We were told that they are getting emails, SMSes , letters to stop the Hindu Marriage Amendment bill. MPs were surprised to see a woman (me) talking about 'men’s right', the obvious question was “lady, why you, is everything ok with you?”.
My answer was, “if the men who are the backbone of any society, civilization are not well how can I be. So men’s right is basic right.” In this course of time we were invited in parliament by a big leader of opposition party who agreed on the point that duration of marriage should be defined.
But that party didn’t say anything during discussion in parliament which is alright. Politicians change their colors very often. A party which talks about Hindus, doesn’t actually care about men, was the message we got. It was enough to open our eyes and see that things are beyond religion.
On a panic stricken day when we were told that the bill was about to pass in the parliament without discussion, we thought of meeting the honorable law minister. We went to his office and we were told that we have to wait. We said we are not going without meeting the minister. Finally, the law minister came and asked our objections on the bill.
Our first objection was, how can you stop one gender from opposing the divorce, it is unconstitutional? He replied, “if it is unconstitutional go to court, why you people are coming to me. Second objection was, duration of the marriage is not defined in it, how can a 10 day marriage be equivalent to 10 years of marriage. His reply was,“marriage is a marriage whether ten days or ten years.”
We were disappointed by the attitude and noticed that we are actually governed by 'dictators' in the name of democracy.
Then the day came when we saw parliamentarians discussing the bill. And for the first time we heard MPs talking about men’s right in the house. When an MP said, “why women are empowered by slaughtering men?”
Another MP said, “when there is so much misuse already, why a new bill?”
We made it finally, we were there in the house with a bang. People outside heard something about men's rights. The two lines by these MPs did it. And then, we all saw that the bill was neither discussed and nor passed in the lower house.
Monsoon session ended without passing it. There can be many reasons behind it but one of the biggest reasons was 'Men’s rights have knocked the door'. We were not there to stop the law, this fight is not against one stupid law. It is about MISANDRY which is so deep rooted that it will take a long time to end. The collective effort will make a difference one day.
(Ms. Jyoti Tiwari is a Men's Rights Activist. NCR based Jyoti Tiwari is also a frequent participant in TV debates, where she can be seen strongly advocating the need of men's rights in the socieity)
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