In a recent hearing of a marital dispute, Justice Manjunath made a broadly generalized, but disturbing statement when he said that society is being spoilt because of women’s empowerment.
In recent news story above, a Karnataka HC judge has reportedly said that women empowerment is spoiling society. Everyone can have opinion, but a High court judge expressing opinion in public is not the same as a politician expressing an opinion, which opinion can be changed based on opportunistic goals.
So let us assume that a High court judge is expressing an opinion which he believes to be based on facts and evidence in his own knowledge. He has made this opinion after hearing many marital cases in court.
The whole point of holding an opinion is only if you act on it if it is well within your powers to do so.
Like if I strongly hold an opinion that plastic bags add to environmental pollution, but do not reduce my own usage of plastic bags, then I am being a …. (add your favourite adjective).
Empowerment – coming soon to a theatre near you
We do not beat around the bush, so let’s just say that what is really being meant by ‘women empowerment spoiling is society’ is something else — giving legal entitlements to women without concomitant responsibilities results in gross misuse of those entitlements, to the extent that other members of society — men, fathers, children, elderly are made to pay the price.
What are the judges doing about it? Just those who hold such opinions.
By passing such a bill only two things come to my mind that our govt is demented and with no backbone as they are just succumbing to a handful of likeminded women who probably see ”letting the empowerment of women” theory go thru by demolishing the men and their families by helping other women usurp their hard earned wealth in a stroke and not really prove to the society that they can be equals by actually working as hard to bring themselves to that level. I do not think that the panel who force their way in with these amendments seem to be happy in their own homes and they are themselves probably in semi demolished marriages. The other thing is that this is being done for the purpose of next elections coming forth for the women votes.
Either way one should not let their individual frustration come in the way of laying the law correctly and to the best interest of our country.
On one hand they want equality and on the other hand the law being amended or even as it is today is totally unequal.
If they say that women put in as much in terms of their work at home, then there should be a balance in their amendments such as –
a) let the share in husband’s residential property be the share on the home that is bought by his own earning or both their earnings but only acquired after this marriage(1st or 2nd or 3rd respectively) as the case may be.
b) But such privilege should be given to a women only who has lived as husband and wife for a minimum period of 5 years in that particular marrage where one assumes and that they have actually shared all times – good and bad together, brought up children and/or worked in or out of house together or run a household.
One cannot walk into a marriage and just get an entitlement to the residential properties unless she has really contributed for a while otherwise women will get a free hand to walk away as and when they feel like because they have nothing to lose but only to gain from day 1 while men will have all to lose from hereon (day 1)and so will not want to get married at all.
So in a nutshell this is the path that has been set to demolish marriages and will completely ruin the institution of marriages and family systems in India. Both the wife and the husband must share EQUAL responsibility in a marriage and similarly in a divorce.
This new amendment is going to obviously spell doom for men with the notorious women taking full advantage of the situation. This I may also say will spell further doom for women or a girl child as most families will advise or refrain their sons to get married as they would eye a women entering their home to become a co owner of not only the properties earned by their husbands but also their ancestral or inherited properties which otherwise would have remained a family property. So what is already an issue in the eyes of so called society (mainly girls parents that a girl is a liability will further get tarnished as girl being someone to “dread(demon)” throughout her life. So she will get kicked from both sides.
A women with a vicious mind would target homes where there are family properties and will marry with the motives to usurp such properties within weeks of marriage and file for divorce where a man will not be able to challenge it. Now a days even some parents participate in such businesses in targeting males who are from well to do families and lay beautiful traps to shove off their so called liability (women with disabilities such as mental or physical disorders without bringing it to the knowledge of the other party) who only find out later, that he has become a victim of the most immoral/unethical act of the girl’s parents. Women with motives who file a criminal case at the drop of a hat to falsely harass the husband or their family members will take immediate advantage of this. They will get married and if their demands are not met, they will file for irretrievable divorce and walk away with the booty. While husband and his immediate relatives will be silent spectators in their own homes and if not lucky in jails with criminal cases against them.
We cannot follow laws of foreign countries and implement them here. We are not an America or a China. Besides even in America they have clear distinctions on what is –
Marital Property and Community Property. Marital property is what one earns after his/her marriage and community property is what is before the marriage or inherited etc. Only Marital property is distributed between husband and wife but not the community property. Also in the marital property they have the provision of Prenuptial agreement which is not present in our country. I feel that we must also look and define this aspect clearly as well as to what is “Marital property” and what is not.
– Only that residential property acquired (not inherited or ancestral) by both after the particular marriage can be distributed 50/50. If inherited property is brought into this ambit then due to this one share of the wife(from the husband’s share), it will jeopardize the sale of a property even if the other co owners wish to sell or rent it off. The wife will be able to stop the transaction at her will by not signing the documents and further armtwist the other parties for more money.
This amendment bill with above safeguards should not be applicable to an already DIVORCED woman who may getting married a second time or a third time as otherwise they will amass a lot of wealth by just marrying and divorcing at their whims and fancy.
All above should be only applicable if the marriage is breaking down on the basis of Irretrievable breakdown of marriage. If divorce is taken on other grounds the law that is prevailing, should continue as is.
I wish to strongly ask the lady panelists(Jayanti natrajan/Renuka Chaudhry’s/Brinda karat and their likes including our law minister and the PM Manmohan Singh/President Pratibah Patil who have headed such a lopsided amendment bill to answer this. If women wants equality, why don’t they first turn around to their own parents and ask them why have they been brought as unequals within their own family between their own brothers and sisters and brought up to believe that they are so called “Paraya Dhan”???? Why do they not educate them and put them at the same levels as a man / capable to earn and stand on their own feet as a man? How can a husband be responsible for what the wife’s parents term and bring them up as a liability(Paraya Dhan)?? Why don’t the parents of the girls give them enough property of their own instead of look forward to a booty from the husband’s side. In a way they are part of the conspiracy and can be termed as dacoits themselves for not parting with their property but want to loot another family’s property. Don’t pay dowry and don’t get married if one is asked for dowry. For such issues, you have those safeguards in place even after marriage if one tortures u or asks for dowry. You first do all the wrongs yourself while bringing up your daughters and then want to put the onus on the husband or his family for everything. All these panelists and heads must introspect first and question their own parents for it first.
This is like allow a woman to just walk in to a marriage and say you screw me once and I will then screw your and your family’s entire happiness throughout your life in walking into a marriage for one day. I feel that parents of these panelists/ministers and they themselves should be asked these questions in a public debate on all popular TV channels and then made to answer them.