Tuesday, November 14, 2006
complaint letter to WashingtonTimes for their baised article
Dear Editor,
I am completely shocked and disappointed at the heavily biased article
that was published in your newspaper.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20061113-120817-8603r.htm
It demeans Indian culture in general and Indian men in particular. It
is clearly a propaganda by Indian feminists and the author seems to be
advancing their cause without even verifying the facts.
As an Indian Citizen, I am extremely concerned by the Domestic Violence
Act. The feminist organizations have been hailing this act and
presenting it as empowerment of domestic abuse victims. However, there is no
recourse for men who are victimized in their houses. The law lends itself
to very easy misuse and is a gross violation of human rights of half
the population. The fact is that due to this law, men will be
emotionally, mentally and financially abused. As so delicately put by the
concerned minister Ms. Renuka Chaudhary - "Its now men's turn to suffer".
The fact is that the Indian Domestic Violence law is a skewed law in
which only a WOMAN can file a complaint against a MAN. If a man is a
victim of domestic violence, he has no recourse under the law. Moreover, a
man is legally obligated to pay ANY amount of money that the woman asks
him, otherwise he can be jailed. Moreover, if he asks for a single
penny from her, that is also considered domestic violence. If the couple is
living in a shared household, then the man is responsible for the rent.
The law allows any woman who has lived with any man, in a residence, to
actually occupy the residence any time she wants by claiming domestic
violence. So, a divorced wife or an old live-in partner whom a man has
not seen in a decade can file domestic violence and can actually get to
live in any residence that the couple might have lived in before.
Incredulous ? Insane ? That's exactly what this law is. Please see
references at the end where the minister herself admits some of these
things.
It is clear by the actions Ms. Renuka Chaudhary, that her real agenda
is to legally cripple and victimize men on behalf of radical feminists.
She is vehemently opposed to making the law gender neutral. Her
arguments have been the following - "If men have a problem, they should speak
up" or "it is predominantly the woman who suffers". What confounds me
is that if the law is made gender neutral, it does not take away ANY
benefit from the real women victims of domestic abuse AND it provides help
to male victims as well. The irony is that the Minister herself readily
admits that the law will be misused. So, her solution? "What if this
law is misused ? Every law is misused". Bravo !! So, now the Govt. is
actually encouraging the misue of the law here !! When a well respected
journalist asked her on national television, if innocent men should
suffer before the law is amended, her reply was "Its not a bad idea. I pity
men". Some more comments by Renuka Chaudhary - "If men behave,
they have nothing to fear". But what if the men behave and the women
misbehave ? Today, in urban India, when a woman does not want to be in a
marriage, she promptly files a dowry case along with the divorce and
legally harrasses and extorts money from the innocent husband and his
family after they have been in jail for no crime of theirs. If a woman
wants to walk out of a relationship, there is nothing to dissuade her from
filing false cases and the lawyers actually encourage that.
There are three fundamental problems with the domestic violence law –
a) it is overwhelmingly gender biased in favor of women, b) the
potential for misuse is astounding and c) the definition of domestic violence
is too expansive.
There are degrees of domestic violence and not all conflicts in a
relationship can be termed as domestic violence. This law trivializes the
issue of domestic violence by including minor differences in its realm
and by explicitly denying protection to half of the population.
The law in its current form is grossly inadequate to tackle the problem
of domestic violence. It imposes a lot of responsibility on men,
without giving them rights. On the other hand, it gives lots of rights to
women without requiring them to be responsible. At the very minimum, it
should be made gender neutral, offering protection to both men and women.
Also, provisions for stringent punishments need to be incorporated into
the law to prevent misuse. Moreover, the law needs to be made more
practical by differentiating between various degrees of conflicts and by
unambiguously defining what constitutes domestic violence.
The fact is domestic violence is a serious problem and a neutral and
unprejudiced law is needed to protect the genuine victims of domestic
violence, irrespective of gender. The perpetrators of domestic violence
need to be appropriately punished and dealt with. At the same time,
protection cannot be withheld from real victims for any reason whatsoever,
least of all their gender. One can be certain that there is something
sinister about a law, when it intimidates and instills fear in innocent
people. When a person who has not committed any crime, begins to fear
punishment under the provisions of a law, it is not a law anymore – it is
state sponsored terrorism.
Regards,
Note to the Editor - Most of the voices heard on this topic are of
feminists and of well meaning people who do not understand the law
completely and are just taken in by the propaganda of feminists, without even
realizing it. Empowering women is a noble goal but empowering women by
victimizing men is gross injustice. Please read the law and its
implications as given in the references below. I hope that you will publish my
concerns in your esteemed newspaper
PS : Every comment of Ms Renuka Chaudhary that I have quoted above is
true. I give the references below.
1. Ms. Renuka Chaudhary's video interview on CNN-IBN where she says
that its not a bad idea for men to suffer and "I pity men" . In the
interview, she openly threatens the well respected journalist Mr. Karan
Thapar to "be careful" and at one point even threatens him of domestic
violence.
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/26051/11_2006/devils_renuka1a/ill-empower-women-chowdhury.html
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/26051/11_2006/devils_renuka1b/ill-empower-women-chowdhury.html
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/26051/11_2006/devils_renuka2/ill-empower-women-chowdhury.html
2. Her interview with times of India, where she says "If men have a
problem, they should speak up"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/347817.cms
3. Her quote in Hindustan Times, where she opposes making the law
gender neutral so that male vicitms can also seek relief. -
http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=05_11_2006_001_016&typ=1&pub=47
4. The official law is available here -
http://www.498a.org/contents/general/domesticviolenceact05.pdf
5. An summarized version is available on this news site
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?fromtimeline=true&id=95405&callid=1&template=womencrime
6. An critique of this law is available here -
http://presentindia.blogspot.com/2006/11/loopholes-in-domestic-violence-bill.html
7. Examples of how this law can be misused are here
http://presentindia.blogspot.com/2006/10/domestic-violence-on-men.html
here http://savemarriages.wordpress.com/
and http://givemejustice.wordpress.com/
8. More information about the law and what people are saying about it
is available here http://www.498a.org/dv.htm
9. Study that shows that in India, women are much more violent then
men.
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID41E2.pdf
10. Even the statistics quoted in your article are potentially fake.
http://www.mediaradar.org./alert20061113.php
I am completely shocked and disappointed at the heavily biased article
that was published in your newspaper.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20061113-120817-8603r.htm
It demeans Indian culture in general and Indian men in particular. It
is clearly a propaganda by Indian feminists and the author seems to be
advancing their cause without even verifying the facts.
As an Indian Citizen, I am extremely concerned by the Domestic Violence
Act. The feminist organizations have been hailing this act and
presenting it as empowerment of domestic abuse victims. However, there is no
recourse for men who are victimized in their houses. The law lends itself
to very easy misuse and is a gross violation of human rights of half
the population. The fact is that due to this law, men will be
emotionally, mentally and financially abused. As so delicately put by the
concerned minister Ms. Renuka Chaudhary - "Its now men's turn to suffer".
The fact is that the Indian Domestic Violence law is a skewed law in
which only a WOMAN can file a complaint against a MAN. If a man is a
victim of domestic violence, he has no recourse under the law. Moreover, a
man is legally obligated to pay ANY amount of money that the woman asks
him, otherwise he can be jailed. Moreover, if he asks for a single
penny from her, that is also considered domestic violence. If the couple is
living in a shared household, then the man is responsible for the rent.
The law allows any woman who has lived with any man, in a residence, to
actually occupy the residence any time she wants by claiming domestic
violence. So, a divorced wife or an old live-in partner whom a man has
not seen in a decade can file domestic violence and can actually get to
live in any residence that the couple might have lived in before.
Incredulous ? Insane ? That's exactly what this law is. Please see
references at the end where the minister herself admits some of these
things.
It is clear by the actions Ms. Renuka Chaudhary, that her real agenda
is to legally cripple and victimize men on behalf of radical feminists.
She is vehemently opposed to making the law gender neutral. Her
arguments have been the following - "If men have a problem, they should speak
up" or "it is predominantly the woman who suffers". What confounds me
is that if the law is made gender neutral, it does not take away ANY
benefit from the real women victims of domestic abuse AND it provides help
to male victims as well. The irony is that the Minister herself readily
admits that the law will be misused. So, her solution? "What if this
law is misused ? Every law is misused". Bravo !! So, now the Govt. is
actually encouraging the misue of the law here !! When a well respected
journalist asked her on national television, if innocent men should
suffer before the law is amended, her reply was "Its not a bad idea. I pity
men". Some more comments by Renuka Chaudhary - "If men behave,
they have nothing to fear". But what if the men behave and the women
misbehave ? Today, in urban India, when a woman does not want to be in a
marriage, she promptly files a dowry case along with the divorce and
legally harrasses and extorts money from the innocent husband and his
family after they have been in jail for no crime of theirs. If a woman
wants to walk out of a relationship, there is nothing to dissuade her from
filing false cases and the lawyers actually encourage that.
There are three fundamental problems with the domestic violence law –
a) it is overwhelmingly gender biased in favor of women, b) the
potential for misuse is astounding and c) the definition of domestic violence
is too expansive.
There are degrees of domestic violence and not all conflicts in a
relationship can be termed as domestic violence. This law trivializes the
issue of domestic violence by including minor differences in its realm
and by explicitly denying protection to half of the population.
The law in its current form is grossly inadequate to tackle the problem
of domestic violence. It imposes a lot of responsibility on men,
without giving them rights. On the other hand, it gives lots of rights to
women without requiring them to be responsible. At the very minimum, it
should be made gender neutral, offering protection to both men and women.
Also, provisions for stringent punishments need to be incorporated into
the law to prevent misuse. Moreover, the law needs to be made more
practical by differentiating between various degrees of conflicts and by
unambiguously defining what constitutes domestic violence.
The fact is domestic violence is a serious problem and a neutral and
unprejudiced law is needed to protect the genuine victims of domestic
violence, irrespective of gender. The perpetrators of domestic violence
need to be appropriately punished and dealt with. At the same time,
protection cannot be withheld from real victims for any reason whatsoever,
least of all their gender. One can be certain that there is something
sinister about a law, when it intimidates and instills fear in innocent
people. When a person who has not committed any crime, begins to fear
punishment under the provisions of a law, it is not a law anymore – it is
state sponsored terrorism.
Regards,
Note to the Editor - Most of the voices heard on this topic are of
feminists and of well meaning people who do not understand the law
completely and are just taken in by the propaganda of feminists, without even
realizing it. Empowering women is a noble goal but empowering women by
victimizing men is gross injustice. Please read the law and its
implications as given in the references below. I hope that you will publish my
concerns in your esteemed newspaper
PS : Every comment of Ms Renuka Chaudhary that I have quoted above is
true. I give the references below.
1. Ms. Renuka Chaudhary's video interview on CNN-IBN where she says
that its not a bad idea for men to suffer and "I pity men" . In the
interview, she openly threatens the well respected journalist Mr. Karan
Thapar to "be careful" and at one point even threatens him of domestic
violence.
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/26051/11_2006/devils_renuka1a/ill-empower-women-chowdhury.html
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/26051/11_2006/devils_renuka1b/ill-empower-women-chowdhury.html
http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/26051/11_2006/devils_renuka2/ill-empower-women-chowdhury.html
2. Her interview with times of India, where she says "If men have a
problem, they should speak up"
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/347817.cms
3. Her quote in Hindustan Times, where she opposes making the law
gender neutral so that male vicitms can also seek relief. -
http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/artMailDisp.aspx?article=05_11_2006_001_016&typ=1&pub=47
4. The official law is available here -
http://www.498a.org/contents/general/domesticviolenceact05.pdf
5. An summarized version is available on this news site
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?fromtimeline=true&id=95405&callid=1&template=womencrime
6. An critique of this law is available here -
http://presentindia.blogspot.com/2006/11/loopholes-in-domestic-violence-bill.html
7. Examples of how this law can be misused are here
http://presentindia.blogspot.com/2006/10/domestic-violence-on-men.html
here http://savemarriages.wordpress.com/
and http://givemejustice.wordpress.com/
8. More information about the law and what people are saying about it
is available here http://www.498a.org/dv.htm
9. Study that shows that in India, women are much more violent then
men.
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/ID41E2.pdf
10. Even the statistics quoted in your article are potentially fake.
http://www.mediaradar.org./alert20061113.php
