Every Sunday afternoon, dozens of men gather in the Pune’s Sambhaji Park to discuss how they feel they are being tortured by wives or mistreated by women.
They are part of the Men’s Rights Association, founded in 2011 to, in the words of its website, fight misandry, or male-hatred, spread awareness about men’s rights, discuss medical problems related to men and lobby for the formation of a men’s welfare ministry in central government.
“We feel that that everybody is talking about women and children. Nobody is thinking that men also need help,” said Atit Rajpara, a 35-year-old software engineer and co-founder of the organization.
The organization helps sponsor weekly meetings in dozens of Indian cities in tie-ups with local NGOs, according to Mr. Rajpara.
The members assist distressed men, either face-to-face or over the telephone by providing emotional support and advice on how to stand up for their rights.
India is widely regarded as a patriarchal society where men are often given precedence and women are under-represented in the workforce and politics.
The gang rape of a young female student in Delhi in December brought the issue of women’s rights and safety into the spotlight in India and ignited an unprecedented debate in the country about how it treats its women. The verdict in that case is expected on Tuesday, the four men accused of kidnapping, rape and murder, have all pleaded innocent.
In the wake of that rape, the Men’s Rights Association raised the issue of “fake rape” cases with the government commission set up to suggest legal changes to better prevent violence against women. The group argued that most reports of rape are false.
The conviction rate in rape cases that come before courts is about 24.2%. “Why [are] the conviction rates so low? Because most of them are false cases,” said Mr. Rajpara.
Women’s rights groups, on the other hand, say the relatively low conviction rate is the result of bias against the female complainants.
Men’s rights activists also complain about the focus on men who face criminal charges for harassing their wives and in-laws for bigger dowry payments.
“A girl marries a man who has a fat salary or has lots of property,” said Pravin, another co-founder. “It is a dowry given to the women but no one notices that,” he added.
Working for the organization leaves them with little free time. “Whatever extra time we have, rather than going to the movies or something else, we invest in MRA [the Men’s Right Association],” said Mr. Rajpara.
According to the latest data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau, 8,233 cases of dowry deaths, killings of women related to dowry payments, were registered in 2012.
“Men cannot cry. This a basic stereotype in the society,” said Mr. Rajpara. “Whenever a man comes [to the meetings], we let him cry,” he added. Many feel relieved and happy after sharing their troubles with the members of the group, he added.
Mr. Rajpara says he had a rocky marriage and is now separated from his wife. But he said he doesn’t dislike women and has many female friends. What he objects to, he said, is anyone who misuses the law for “selfish interests.”
“Our voice was being raised in the parliament; that’s a big achievement for us,” said Mr. Rajpara.
The members run the group with their own money; attempts to get funds from private companies were unsuccessful, they said. “They laughed at us. They said, ‘Do men need rights?’” said Mr. Rajpara.
Correction: A previous version of this post wrongly stated that 41.7% of all crimes were crimes specifically against women, such as rape and cruelty by a husband. In fact, the rate of crimes specifically against women is 41.7 per 100,000 females. We apologize for the error.
Original NEWS Source:- http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/09/09/indias-mens-rights-group/
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