The current election season has seen political leaders rake up several issues. Among them, guarantees made for women have taken a front seat with political parties promising to uphold female rights in India.
At a time when the Swati Maliwal assault case has once again stirred up the question of women’s safety in the country, there’s a political party called ‘Mera Adhikar Rashtriya Dal’ (MARD) seeking to defend men’s rights in the country.
All you need to know about MARD
Founded in 2009, MARD was formed by a group of men facing legal issues over the Dowry Prohibition Act and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.
One of its founding members, Kapil Mohan Choudhary claims that he is stuck in a legal battle over a dowry case since 1999.
“I have two kids from my first marriage, both taken away by my ex-wife. Later, I was falsely accused in dowry and domestic violence cases. While fighting these cases in Lucknow, I met many others facing similar charges in similar situations,” he said.
Mishra, who remarried in 2011, said that he formed a political party to “highlight men’s issues.”
The party’s tagline goes like this: ‘MARD ko dard hota hai’.
Is the party contesting elections?
Yes, they are.
And this is not the first election MARD members will be contesting. Since its inception in 2009, the party has participated in seven elections.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party fielded candidates from Varanasi and Lucknow. In 2020, the party contested a by-election in Bangarmau and Assembly election from Bareilly, Lucknow North, Bakshi Ka Talab.
However, MARD candidates suffered huge losses in these elections, so much so that they had to forfeit their deposits.
But these setbacks have not stopped the party from running this year. MARD will be contesting from the Lok Sabha seats of Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Ranchi this year.
MARD’s MANifesto
Every political party has a manifesto and so does MARD. The only exception is that this party emphasises more on the MAN part of the manifesto.
Titled “MANifesto: A real MANifesto for MAN,” the party has promised to create a ‘Ministry of Men’s Welfare’ and a ‘National Commission for Men.’
MARD also wants to pass a “Men’s Safety Bill” to prevent unfair practices perpetrated against men over laws made to address women’s issues.
Is there any scope for having women in the party?
“By all means,” says Kapil as the party’s “aim is to protect men’s rights, not infringe on women’s.”
However, one of their online posts in particular paints a different image.
“There is no such thing as Feminism. It is a psyop and a pathetic ideology propagated and funded by Politics to destroy families. do u all agree?” the party said on X.
Also, when a journalist asked, “Who has to leave the job after marriage? Men or women?”, a party supporter said, “Women. But they aren’t leaving jobs now. So there are fights over who is going to make tea at home. And if women can’t handle the house, then it is a problem. A man goes to work and has to tolerate so much at office.”
Link to article –
‘MARD ko dard hota hai’: All about political party fighting for men’s rights in Lok Sabha 2024 polls
