Friday, November 28, 2014
Letter to PM of India on proposal to breakup Hindu family system
OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA
Dt: 28 Nov. 2014
Hyderabad
To
Hon’ble Prime Minister
PMO, South Block, Raisina Hill
NewDelhi 110011
Dear Sir
Sub: OBJECTIONS
TO THE PROPOSED
MARRIAGE LAW
(AMENDMENT) BILL
Print
media has reported that The Marriage Law
(Amendment) Bill 2010/13 has been listed for vote in Parliament in the
Winter session 2014. For a law that will affect the lives of every citizen, the
newly elected government has made no prior notification for discussion nor did
it seek opinion from all interested stakeholders/eminent analysts/NGOs within
the general public & is showing undue haste to push for a vote.
The
existing adversarial system of litigation in marital law has led to the increase
in false accusations to malign the other spouse in & to gain the sympathy
of the Family & Criminal court system which has a plethora of anti-male
laws to assist in the process.
The
result is a humongous backlog of matrimonial cases & consequent
property/alimony/maintenance proceedings. Under pressure from a buckling
judiciary & overflowing jails the previous govt. decided to simplify the
process & correct this disastrous social experiment. The solution proposed
via the subject BILL are a few Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage(IrBM) clauses
to enable divorce petitioners to make a clean break without too much of
emotional and legal hassle.
However,
the clauses namely 13D to13F which are highly volatile & discriminatory
in nature and have the potential to seriously undermine the fabric of Indian society.
These
clauses give invitation & incentive to Indian women (particularly Hindu
women) to intentionally breakup their marriages in order to gain financially. In
an age where gender equality is also equated with financial freedom, these
clauses will prove to be highly destructive tools on a mass scale. There is
also a high scope for collusion between husband & wife to instigate fake
divorce cases in order to separate ancestral properties. There may be other unforeseen
negative effects in terms of property related crime, once these clauses become
operational law. People will lose faith in the rule of law and shall take
matters into their own hands. Majority citizens of progressive India have
predominantly middle-class values. It can be accurately surmised that effects
of such a law once promulgated, it will irreversibly change the psyche of the
entire nation. Also please note that when rewarding/inducing marital union with
dowry is a crime, it is also a crime to reward/induce marital breakup with
property/financial gains.
Being a citizen of this country it is my responsibility to advise caution to the policy makers of the nation not to hastily implement
this law. I request you to initiate wide-ranging talks with representatives of
gender rights on both sides, child rights, social, healthcare & industrial
representatives before proposing this Bill to be passed in Parliament. I also
request you to remove the said clauses 13D, 13E, 13F before introduction in the
Parliament.
Yours
Sincerely
Parthasarathy
(PARTHASARATHY TR)
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