Friday, June 14, 2013

 
Save Indian Family Foundation
Call: 0-9008302822, 0-9632812802
www.saveindianfamily.org
 
 
PRESS RELEASE



Subject: Just like Suraj Pancholi, thousands of helpless men get victimized with threats of Suicide from wives and girlfriends every year.
Based on media reports and alleged suicide note of Jiah Khan, 22-year old Suraj Pancholi was arrested and sent to jail for committing the crime of abetment to suicide. We have to understand that such laws do not exist in other countries in the world. Is suicide a solution to break-ups or separation? Jiah Khan attempted suicide 8 months ago and nothing was done to ensure that she does not repeat it. It is absurd to assume that all human relations will remain everlasting in this age of modernity. Finally, women are portrayed as victims, and men as abusers.
Suraj Pancholi is not alone. Thousands of men across India call SIFF helplines every week. Half of them have faced threats of suicide from their wives from time to time, if they do not meet her unreasonable demands. These men are scared. These abusive wives refuse to come to a counselor or a psychiatrist. When these young men plead to the parents of women about their suicidal nature, parents do not take it seriously. These men cannot run away from home or file for divorce, fearing that this may prompt her to commit suicide. They suffer mental and physical abuse from possessive, controlling and suspicious wives. In fact, the society laughs at them as “Harassed Husbands” rather than helping the man and making arrangements for counseling of such women. Now, this phenomenon is getting extended to relationships before marriage as well. Being obsessively possessive and controlling is not a sign of love.
In short, India is sitting on a ticking time bomb as the society refuses to recognize the issue of threats of suicide inside marriages or in relationships. The society just behaves as if such incidents are rare or wishes that this problem will go away on its own. Then, it recommends revenge on the man if the woman commits suicide. Home Ministry (NCRB) data says, 24% of all suicides in India are due to Family Reasons and 3.4% due to failed love affairs.
Here are concerns of SIFF around this case:
  1. There are no checks and balances in this abetment to suicide law. Suraj Pancholi did not point a gun at Jiah Khan to force her commit suicide. Breaking-up with a girlfriend or being commitment-phobic is not a crime. As reported, Suraj did everything he could so that Jiah Khan can get some psychiatrist help, after she attempted suicide 8 months ago. One has to wonder, why Jiah’s mother did not get her to a psychiatrist.


  1. This abetment to suicide law is very selectively applied by police. When a husband commits suicide blaming torture by wife and in-laws, the police refuse to arrest the woman and her parents. However, if a wife commits suicide, the husband and in-laws go to prison for 6 months to 2 years and are presumed guilty until proven innocent. Is the life of a man cheap? Males are the disposable gender.


  1. This abetment to suicide law and the social attitudes around it actually encourage suicides, by taking away the responsibility from a person to preserve his or her own life.


  1. Many possessive women are already abusing their husbands and boyfriends and threatening suicide, if he stands his ground and defends his dignity. Arrest of Suraj Pancholi will only increase such incidents rapidly. A man is completely helpless here.


  1. Jiah Khan attempted suicide 8 months back. It is reported that Suraj Pancholi was extremely concerned about her life after that incident and he called her mother to India and he even spoke to her for taking Jiah Khan to a psychiatrist. What more can a man do? He is helpless beyond a certain point, when a woman is obsessive and suicidal?


  1. Did Jiah Khan’s mother Rabiya Amin take her to a psychiatrist or counselor, even after knowing about her attempt to commit suicide? As a mother, is not it her responsibility to ensure that her daughter handles stress and relationship troubles with help from mental health professionals?


  1. Suraj Pancholi and many men are victimized as the hatred against men or misandry in general is fueled by mass hysteria after incidents of rape. SIFF demands an end to large scale gender hate, stereotyping and the attitude to judge men harshly. If hate cannot solve communal or religious problems, then why it is assumed that blaming men and spreading hate against men will solve crimes against women?


  1. If a young man commits suicide and he leaves a suicide note, blaming his girlfriend for hurting him, cheating on him and abusing him, will the society show same fervor in demanding arrest of the girl involved? If not, then why men are victimized for the decision for a woman to commit suicide for break up?


Threat of suicide by man is actually defined as domestic violence under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), which is applicable to both marriages and live-in relationships. A woman can get a restraining order from a court against husband and boyfriend if they threaten suicide. However, the society and the women’s organizations force Government to refuse to protect men from such forms of domestic violence. If they had, then Suraj Pancholi would have got a restraining order and would have legally forced Jiah Khan to get psychiatric help.


It is a slap in Bollywood’s face


Finally, Bollywood itself has indulged in spreading large scale hatred against men in recent times, with anti-male stereotyping without looking at issue in a more academic and meaningful manner. Many Bollywood actors are full of misandry. Now, one among them has committed suicide and a budding actor is in prison. It’s a slap on Bollywood’s face and its shows how disconnected Bollywood is from group realities in spite of its false claims to transform the society.


Many actors like Shah Rukh Khan to Amitabh Bacchan have publicly proclaimed, “I am ashamed of being a man”. Shaming all men for the crimes of a few is nothing but anti-male hate or misandry. If misogyny is not healthy for the society, then how can misandry create a better society? We hope, Bollywood actor realize that in this grave hour.


In this particular case (below), a husband committed suicide blaming torture by wife and in-laws. The police did not arrest the wife and in-law even after hundreds of phone calls are made to Mumbai police by SIFF members. If the law of abetment to suicide is to save people from suicide, should not it be applied equally to both genders? Or is men’s life cheaper in Indian society?




SIFF Demands that:


  1. Government must bring checks and balances to all laws related to suicide, like abetment to suicide and dowry deaths.


  1. Government must make domestic violence law gender neutral and protect men from wives and girlfriends, who threaten suicide every now and then.


  1. Suicidal women must be forced to undergo counseling and treatment.


  1. All laws must be made gender neutral and both genders must be treated in a fair manner.


  1. The society must take steps to curb misandry. It is challenging, because it is too easy to blame and stereotype all men citing incidents of rape or other crimes against women. Such misandry will vitiate gender relations.


  1. It must be ensured that, men’s rights to liberty, dignity and basic human rights are not snatched away in the name of empowering women.


According to National Crime Records Bureau, about 20,000 men and about 12, 000 women committed suicide in 2011 for “Family Reasons” alone.


From Save Indian Family Foundation
Call: 0-9008302822, 0-9632812802

Friday, December 4, 2009

Painting these cheap sexist WALS

All you Men out there and those who think you are,

http://shaveindia.com/pressrelease.php

This is a perfect example of how a multinational corporate entity pits the falsely perceived shallow opinions of one gender against the other to improve the sales of their consumer goods.

For generations this has been the way that opportunism has taken the guise of feminism to show the hard working male gender in poor light. This is how the female gender is encouraged to nurture a feeling of resentment towards men. For countless generations men have sacrificed their lives in countless professions, waged wars to protect themselves and their families, fought against the vagaries of nature to provide for their families. But see how a corporate entity tries to increase its brand image by calling men lazy just for not keeping a clean shaven image. This kind of stereotyping of the whole gender of men just to make an extra buck is downright shallow in its concept and disgusting in its approach. This corporate should note that there are millions of men worldwide who toil hard for their women and families, but cannot save enough money to fill their own stomach, much less think about shaving everyday. This corporate has also overlooked the fact that there are religions whose followers are men who are forbidden to shave their beards. This campaign is just a hate campaign against men. The irony is that they are selling products to men with such a campaign.

I call upon all men from all over the world and our women supporters over the world to show this corporate your disgust towards this campaign by boycotting its products, unless this corporate entity tenders an apology to all men in public and withdraws this campaign.