Men's rights activists today demanded setting up of a national-level commission for men on the lines of the National Commission for Women (NCW) to safeguard their interests.
The demand was made when men's rights activists from across the country gathered in suburban Bhayander here today at a meeting organised by an NGO Save Indian Family.
Kumar Jahgirdar, who spearheads the movement for gender-neutral laws, and also runs an NGO-- Childrens' Right Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP), said, "Though men pay more than 82 per cent of the country's Income Tax, no government has ever bothered to address their problems. Therefore, we demand a dedicated ministry for men's welfare and also a men's commission on the lines of NCW."
It is an irony that while there are dedicated ministries for even animals and forests but none for men, he added.
Swarup Sarkar, president of the Save Indian Family (SIF), an NGO which works to promote family and marital harmony and also advocates gender neutral laws, said, "Now there is an urgent need to act against those women, who file false complaints (against husbands) with the protection of women-centric laws."
Interestingly, a number of women were also present at today's event, who also vociferously demand setting up of a commission for men.
Barkha Trehan, a businesswomen from Delhi and also attached with SIF Delhi Chapter, said, "As many as fifty laws are made for women, but not a single for men. The voices of 50 per cent population are being completely unheard in this democratic country, which cannot be ignored now."
"Now, government should wake up and have an assessment of the impact of only women-biased laws as 64,000 (citing National Crime Records Bureau data) are killed by their wives nationally," she said.
The meeting in Bhayander will continue till Sunday and activists will pass resolutions seeking changes in laws, which will then be handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "save Men" and treat them as equal citizens.
