Free Press Journal Invites to Write on WRB

My article was published in Free Press Journals' Sunday "Weekend" Suppliment's Front Page on 14th March 2010. I thank Ketan Tanna from the Free Press Journal to extend an invitation to write on Womens Reservation Bill.

Arguing In favor for the bill was Ms. Kalpana Sharma an Independent Columnist. While, I had the privilege of representing the SIF Side of the Story. (Click on the picture for larger image)

The contents in the Article

By Jinesh Zaveri:

Give me a single instance where a woman was refused constitutionally to contest the Indian election just because of her gender. But the Women’s Reservation Bill (WRB) will stop an Indian Male to contest Elections in 33% of the seats just because he is a man. Discrimination at the onset, man now a Class 2 Citizen.

Unlike Indira Gandhi, Sonia, Pratibhatai, Shusma, etc, Women will no longer Command Respect, WRB makes women Demand Respect thus losing grace by obstructing capable males in contesting Free and Fair elections. Reservation Fractures the Preamble of equality in Constitution and spirit of freedom. With netas advocating for hike in 33% and Dalit women reservation category, the equation gets more sluggish.

If a special category denies rights to some section, equality ceases. India already has a special caste reservation that narrows the Open Category in contesting; WRB would only make it shallower. As a result Elections in India would no longer be ‘a bit’ free and fair.

WRB may be Ideal in books but some ignored anticipated scenarios are foreseen as complicated in execution. It brings about Unconstitutional Dictatorship in democracy. Bahus Sonias and Manekas of the nation will enjoy uninterrupted contesting in their constituency - term after term. But sons, Rahuls and Varuns of the nation may face the denial in their peak to contest due to rotating reservation in a constituency. An all women battle on rotating reservation will prevent a male from contesting 3 elections consecutively in a row from the same seat unlike their Lady Counterparts.

Winning lady in reservation round will make it difficult for the stepped out male of her party in next elections and with weak anti-incumbency factor, the goodwill and hardwork of male in opposition would be wiped out to be re-elected in next round. Women would be free to contest from anywhere, against men too. But men would be denied to contest if it’s an all women reserved constituency.

What are we trying to achieve with WRB? Word ‘women’ has become synonymous with wife while mothers-sisters of husband are forgotten. In this so called male dominated society, Husbands are denied the basic right of recording an FIR against wife (hence no statistics). Every year close to 1lakh males and approx 33000 Mothers-Sisters of Husband get arrested by the daughters in law sans investigation in a 498a complaint with 2% conviction rate (Source:NCRB/CSR). Stats used by women organizations of harassment over wives are proven to include 98% of acquittal cases. As a result every year with mothers and sisters legally harassed by daughters-in-law, there stands a great risk of abuse of power and denial of justice to the real women and common citizen.

WRB empowers women in House but not in homes. The dependency of wife on husband’s money and protection of husband’s mother-sisters from false arrest by Daughters-in-Law remain real unresolved empowerment issues. Yet, the biggest losers would be “we the people” who may be denied a good progressive leader just because he is a Male.

(Jinesh Zaveri is a Blogger Activist, Associated with the Indian Family Foundation, Mumbai.)

MASHAAL - Mothers And Sisters of Husband Against Abuse of Law

MASHAAL Forum Mumbai - Mothers And Sisters of Husband Against Abuse of Law.

 Weekly Meetings: 

Borivali E National Park Every Sunday - 11 am

Mulund E Deshmukh Garden Every Saturday - 5 pm

Call: 976 977 0 498

email: mashaal@iff-ngo.com

TOI Coverage on 8th of March:


When bad bahu harasses saas

Rebecca Samervel | TNN

Mumbai: A magistrates court recently acquitted a man and his aged parents in a case of cruelty to wife under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code.The court held that the young wife,who made these allegations of cruelty and harassment over dowry,could not substantiate them.

It was a routine trial for the lawyers,but for the mother-in-law charged of abuse and harassment,the acquittal was a vindication of sorts.The 62-year-old woman felt she had come out of a nightmare.She is not alone,many others feel hurt and at the mercy of the legal process once their daughters-in-law or sistersin-law initiate a criminal case against them under section 498-A.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) says that between 2004 and 2007, 1.2 lakh women were arrested for an offence under section 498-A, the section many men find draconian,but which aims at preventing torture of helpless wives over dowry.

This Womens Day,a group of women and men have come together as Mothers and Sisters of Husbands against Abuse of Law (MASHAAL) to protest the misuse of section 498-A. The group is part of a local NGO, Indian Family Foundation, which aims tackle the abuse of law.

Are only wives women? What about the mothers and sisters of the husband This is only a wife-centric law, said Lata Mishra,an alleged victim. Her weekly dialysis treatment did not prevent her arrest when estranged daughter-in-law Arti charged her son Narayan and the rest of her family, including a mentally challenged daughter for cruelty and ill-treatment.

Although Lata and her daughter received bail the same day on medical grounds, her husband spent over 48 hours in jail and was suspended from work.He is the sole bread winner. My daughter is paralysed and we thought of suicide often, she said. But timely intervention from MASHAAL prevented the extreme step.  We realised that there are many like us and we kept fighting, said Narayan, who began studying law.

The group has been meeting every Sunday for the last eight months and addressing grievances. The women allege that often, the law is abused by women seeking to extort money. While many admit that the law is a step in the right direction, its misuse is leading to legal terrorism, said the group.

In many cases,complaints are made on Friday to prevent bail, said Minal Verma,whose daughter-inlaw filed charges against the family four years ago.

Often,498-A complaints are filed by the affluent and educated. But after a flurry of complaints about its misuse, the law is being applied with caution for the last few years, say police officers.

(Names changed to protect identity)