::..SIFTimes Blog..::

The origins of Save Indian Family (SIF) movement can be traced back to the year 2000, with a few men writing about the injustice they were facing due to the misuse of anti-dowry laws (like IPC Section 498A and Dowry Prohibition Act) by their estranged wives. Soon, many more victims of anti-dowry laws followed suit, writing on the internet, using pseudonyms, to create awareness about their plight. Later, like-minded individuals started a yahoo mailing group called misusedowryact, where members shared their experiences and knowledge, thus helping each other to deal with their individual cases, and transforming each other into fighters.

In the year 2003, motivated IT professionals in the group, who saw the potential of the internet, started several websites to spread awareness among the public regarding the misuse of anti-dowry laws, thus attracting many more victims towards the movement. In the same year Non-Governmental Organizations like Sangyabalya and Asha Kiran were born through the initiative of members from Bangalore.

In March 2005, the SIF yahoo group as well as the SIF blog were initiated, to serve as the collective voice of all the people who are tormented by all anti-male, anti-family laws and their misuse. This SIF yahoo mailing group grew rapidly within a span of two years, and currently has over 2000 members. It brought together victims from all corners of the world to share their woes and victories with one another. Members who were passionate about fighting injustice turned into activists. Many regional mailing groups were also started both in India and abroad.

In the last two years, we, the Siffers, have conducted conferences and seminars, press meets, protests, and awareness campaigns. We met with politicians and bureaucrats soliciting their attention to the blatant injustice being done to innocent men, women and children. We have been able to generate active debate in the media (newspapers and TV) regarding anti-male, anti-family legal provisions being stealthily passed under the label of women-protection laws.

SIF became the only Indian forum that unified individuals who were not only falsely accused of dowry-related crimes and domestic abuse but also presumed guilty until proven innocent by the severely conditioned legal system, media and society. SIF served as a platform for such people to vent their anguish and frustrations, obtain advice, and form bonds with fellow sufferers. It nursed the wounded spirits of victims, and revived many into unrelenting soldiers who fight against the gross violation of their human rights. SIF is the cradle that gave birth to many activists some of whom are excellent thinkers and writers. Through their writings and constant debates with netizens, Siffers have become a force to reckon with on the internet.

Often dismissed by the feminist driven media as a group of disgruntled men, Save Indian Family is now the largest Indian group (of men and women, including senior citizens) fighting to ensure gender equality under law, to promote family harmony and to protect Indian families from legal terrorism.

Uma Challa

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THE SENIOR CITIZENS(MAINTENANCE,PROTECTION&WELFARE) BILL, 2006: http://rajyasabha.nic.in/bills-ls-rs/2006/X_2006.PDF

Its very sad to realise that it needed a bill for enforcing the debt repayment (which cannot be repaid even in a lifetime by a child) we owe to our old parents. It pains to know that we have ‘advanced’ so much materialistically to come a conclusion that old people are not ‘economically viable’ in our scheme of things!. In our pursuits for higher posts, salaries, newer toys, bigger houses and villas, our hearts become smaller and smaller to the extend that our own parents cannot be accommodated in it anymore.Anyway its good that government has realised this unfortunate trend of desertion and indifference towards old parents/grand parents. And the bill sounds very good in its intentions, it remains to be seen how the implementation is done and what are the actual guidelines laid out in the final Law after the Bill is passed. Questions like what’s the time frame in which relief is made available and whether the process of redressal is straight and clean, crop up in mind having seen lots of shoddily drafted laws which disadvantage our seniors, like IPC 498a, Domestic violence etc(please go through some of the instances we came across in field, below).

In Domestic Violence laws its said that the complainant should be given right to residence, some misuse of DV act can lead to loss on part of parents who may lose their residence to the law-misusing daughter in law. In many of the cases we have come across in our group, we have known for a fact that the elderly parents are the worst affected along with kids, when a law like IPC 498a or DV act is misused, where elders often will have wash their hands off from a life time’s savings- just on the basis of a false complaint by the wives side.

Similarly talking about implementation of DV act requires ‘Protection officers’ and ‘Service Providers’(NGOs or groups who are already in social services or related services are supposed to apply for being service providers), these two requirements of the DV law is not yet fully chartered out and hence in many places DV act is actually a white elephant, this bill for seniors too can go that way since there is a requirement that there should be tribunals in every district- I wonder how fast or whether this can be achieved in practice.

Having said about the lack of concern by youngsters towards their parents in the name of economic success and pursuits, I also would like to caution that there is a possibility of misuse of this law too, since revocation of will and jail sentences too are possible from offences under this law. This is more so since anyone can complain (on the behalf of senior citizens), about the so-called neglect and desertion of parents by children and such complaints could be false with some oblique motive, just using the vulnerability of parents who are totally dependant on someone else while their children are pursuing their careers and interests elsewhere (but supporting and maintaining their parents all the while). Therefore proper investigation of the case facts and evidences has to take place before any action against the accused are undertaken (the offence should not be cognisable or non-bailable, lest this fire power is misused for wrecking vengeance by someone who tricks the old people into filing false cases against their kids, or in any other scenario where these provisions of law is misused for some reason or the other). In some cases indifferent parents would have been instrumental in bringing-up indifferent children, in which case penalising only the children is kind of biased and unfortunate (who cared when that child was getting mistreated or uncared for?).

You can find some counter arguments in the above lines here:
www.suchetadalal.com/articles/display/46/2289.article . Where the author concludes by mentioning ” The growth of individualism, the fraying bonds of kinship and blood, decay of the joint and extended family are not moral failings, but are the inseparable companions of economic success. The neglected and abandoned elderly are only the generational counterpart of children hurt, mistreated, abused or exploited by sometimes desperate parents. If the government wishes to enforce its desire that all dependant people should be tended and cherished, it will have to come up with some more imaginative way of dealing with the injuries to which its own enthusiastic polices have made such a significant contribution. ”

What we need as a permanent guideline is to imbibe good values, not legalising inter-personal relationships or delivering force-fitted piece-meal solutions, where love is the only thing lacking!.
Adding some points vis a vis an FAQ: Q -> Discuss the so-called domestic laws and their good points, flaws or even ambiguity or absence – dowry, inheritance, domestic violence, senior citizens etc.Ans -> The good thing about Domestic laws is that they address the point when a woman is oppressed, the bad point is also that they address only the scenario in which a woman is oppressed, not the scenarios in which Men are oppressed.The recent Protection of Women against Domestic Violence law even necessitates that the complainant needs to be a women and the accused (respondent) needs to be a Man, thus excluding other scenarios of domestic violence from this laws ambit. What happens to the senior citizens who are oppressed by women, men harassed my women?.
Though our dowry laws has a provision for punishment of Dowry Givers, how many instances of dowry giving has been punished?!. Surprised?. In how many instances have girls married (for whatever reasons it may be) lesser-established boys without paying dowry?(by not buying the boy)

Its the same parents who lament after marrying off a daughter to someone, somehow, by paying of dowry, while totally avoiding the issue of equal inheritance by both son and daughter. Which if done and enforced, will end the social menace called dowry.

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SIF Times was thought of as a media flagship of the Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF). SIF is a Non-Profit,
Self-Help, Support Group(SIF is an Umbrella group or movement in which many other national and International
NGOs, Research organisations and Individuals/families across the globe are part of)
Target Audience and Vision
SIF Times primarily envisions to educate its readers and make them aware about the destructive trends
prevailing in Indian families, which will wreck down our society as we know it, if left unchecked. SIF Times
plans to work and have a subscribed base including media personnel, law makers, polity, intelligentsia and all
responsible citizens of India wherever and whatever they may be. Despite the focus and agenda of SIF Times
seeming very specific to the affairs of Indian family, the undercurrents of Nation building is but quite obvious, in
the actions and intentions of the politically aware, knowledgeable and responsible member base of SIF. We
would like to incubate a new breed of politically aware and action-oriented community from among our readers
would like to facilitate the implementation of projects by this community, which may evolve out of SIF times
inspiration and endeavors..

Source of Inspiration
SIF times relies on the collective wisdom, experiential learning & practical tips known to its members.. With 15
centers across the world, in India, Japan, Middle East, UK and US, SIF provides support to falsely implicated
families, and SIF times envision supplementing of these efforts by attaining a greater reach in terms of
readership and access, apart from the current presence of SIF movement in the internet. SIF Times personnel
comprises of a strong pan-globe team of dedicated families(both men and women) who are victims of misuse
of IPC 498a, Domestic Violence Act and other such laws, which are misused a lot these days. Our member
families include NRIs, Senior citizens, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers, Brother-in-laws, Sister-in-laws, unrelated
neighbours and children who are as young as 3 years, all of whom strive to campaign and create awareness
about the gross injustice and abuse that our Indian Legal system is unfortunately subjected to, and are
committed to fight against all other Gender-biased laws and wrongful implementation therein, which is actually
encouraging a “Fatherless Society” around us, and hence destruction of Indian family, all of which we already
witness in western societies.

We envision the following course of actions:

1. Rationalisation of laws like IPC 498a, with a view to reduce misuse while ensuring that the genuine victims of marital cruelty and harassment are protected. We will push our agenda regardless of hurdles faced, adapting at each stage for effectiveness and efficiency. In our endevours to bring about a positive change we may work for a phased change of implementation as in laws like IPC 498a application, so as to bring in continuous improvements.. We will adopt all flanks of campaign to address the environment or stake holders who decide how these laws will have to shape up in future.
2. To provide a viable platform to all writers and bloggers who share our concerns and principles, and hence to put up a united front against adversaries of the Indian family.
3. To provide a bulwark and rock on which we can sincerely attempt and bring a sustainable and positive change in our society. 4. To provide an avenue for advertisement where the affected families can advertise, or call for, any of the skills or products they are looking out for or want to provide.
5. To encourage ideas for self-revival in terms of organising social events, sports, shows, outings and anything which highlights the triumph of human spirit and endurance, and to highlight our all-pervasive concerns, to promote camaraderie, to bond and for community building.
6. To provide a database for case laws, citations and Public interest litigations and to facilitate discussions on these issues with a view for general and specific betterment of the readers.
7. To act as a media-crtique shaping up a positive media culture which promotes domestic harmony. To rate the media including news papers wherein our readers can give thumbs up or thumbs down regarding different media articles and news items….if media is watch dog of our society, we vow to watch the watchers.8. To Spread the awareness and importance of a healthy constructive family for rebuilding a Great Nation that we were. Since we commit ourselves to Nation building too apart from fighting fires of law.9. To finally evolve and influence the law makers mind and to give the support which will finally enable the powers that be to act as just as they intend to be, not fearing any lobby or detracting forces in their line of duty and justice.
(I was in a hurry so would not have added many points other than what Niladri and sudhir has sent me earlier. SO please feel free to edit and append more salient points to this important document which will guide us to act and bring us out as coherent voice which will shake-up the aisles of power- justfully).

Please do give your inputs by commenting on this post

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