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Recently the External Affairs Minister has announced an increase in the legal and financial aid offered to Indian women deserted by their NRI husbands in 13 countries. Will this really help the wives? The author tries to answer.
The financial aid which was limited to USD 3000 in developed countries and USD 2000 in developing countries has now been increased to USD 4000 across nations.
In India getting our daughters married to an NRI man is still an aspiration for many. It is seen as a perfect arrangement by parents, who feel their daughters would have a better life and opportunities abroad. However, in an arranged marriage scenario, if the potential groom is from abroad, not much information can be gathered or proper scrutiny conducted.
In fact, usually the NRI boys come to India for a period of thirty days or so in which they meet suitable matches, finalise and get married before flying abroad again. There have been instances where young brides have learned that their NRI husbands already have a family abroad post reaching the foreign lands. There are also cases where women are subjected to domestic violence or mental and emotional torture.
Sometimes the only purposes of these marriages are to get dowry, post which the men usually leave the country and cut all contact with their new wives. At times, wives are deserted in the foreign country by their husbands. As most of them are dependents they wouldn’t have the means to file the necessary documents to get justice. Between 2015 to 2017, as many as 3500 cases of desertion by NRI husbands were reported.
Desertion of wife is now being treated as a serious offence and the husbands may suffer many formidable consequences including loss of their assets in India. The government came down heavily on deserter husbands by displaying summons on their official website. Even their passports may be revoked and Look Out Circulars might be generated in their names.
Hence the increase in financial aid is another welcome step that has come to provide relief to the deserted wives, and in the last four years it has helped as many as 43 women across the globe.
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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