We the members of CRISP have organized a “NATIONAL FATHERS DAY RALLY” on 19th June 2010, to stop the creation of a fatherless society which coincides with fathers day which is celebrated throughout the world to recognize and to honor the fathers for everything they are doing for the children& express gratitude for their love, care and protection to their children.
Details of the function:
Time : 10:00 AM to 1.30 PM
Venue : Mahatma Gandhi Statue, MG Road, Bangalore.
CRISP is an NGO formed in 2008 at Bangalore by people who recognized the serious effects of Parental Alienation of children due to single parenting in divorce/separation. Now we have chapters throughout the country. CRISP speaks up for the Rights of Children to remain connected with and enjoy the love of both the natural parents being divorced or separated. Our aims and objectives are based on research findings. Our members come from all walks of life, like software engineers, doctors, teachers, businessmen, social workers, etc. which includes women and senior citizens. All family roles like grandparents, fathers, mothers, etc., are being represented. CRISP has charted a Pro-Family agenda to promote family harmony in our society.
Parental Alienation: Psychological Effects on the Child
Parental alienation occurs when one parent estranges the children from the other parent for personal vendetta. Children are brainwashed (used as pawns in divorce/ separation) by the dominant parent against the non-custodial parent (usually fathers). This brings a lot of mental distress & trauma to the child and the alienated parent and is particularly damaging to the child’s psychology and is Child Abuse. Extensive psychological studies over decades collectively called “The Spectrum of Parental Alienation Syndrome1” describe the detrimental effects on the child. In western countries, mainly U.S and Europe, organizations (including medical, judicial & NGOs) have gone into the depths of this and are trying hard to preserve families and save children. Unfortunately, our own country which once prided possessing “family values” now needs to learn basic lessons from the west. Its a well known fact that neglected children and children from broken families are more prone to take to crime. In India, NOT even a single such study/ research has been done. There is a serious need to commit to research and save children from this situation, which is completely being ignored. As a society, we are largely ignorant of the effects.
Indian legal system and society at large is still based on a patriarchal mindset which considers fathers incapable of nurturing children which is incorrect. Men are as capable as women to be caregivers and bring up children in a normal way. Even if the woman (mother) assumes that the man is not a good husband, it is out of place to say he is not also a good father for the children until there is strong evidence against the father. Thus, women (mothers) need to understand that her animosity for the husband & his family should be kept separate from the child’s need for his/her father and must share the children with their estranged husband in the best interest of their children. After all, the father if far better than strangers, servants, day-care and nannies!
Judicial & Governmental Apathy: Anti-Child, Anti-Father & Anti-Family
Divorce/ Separation is between spouses. Not child and parent. This is common sense. There is no law requiring a normal father to keep away from his child, in divorce/ separation proceedings. On the other hand, U.N’s Child Rights Convention (to which India also acceded about 20 years ago and then did nothing about) requires the state (of which the Judicial systems are a part) to ensure that
the child does not suffer separation! However, the way justice is administered, the child is separated from the father (mostly) for years! One has to “apply” for “visitation” that takes years to “grant” and even then for a paltry time. Innocent children suffer because parents are separating & fight for their egos! Our judicial mechanism has a deplorable understanding of child welfare based on biased and outdated social concepts. The father is a relegated to a mere “visitor”, eliminating involvement in the child’s life and just a “maintenance” paying ATM machine. It virtually condemns the child to an illegitimate. This is neither in the child’s nor the family’s interest and destroys the foundation for the future generation.
It’s a fact that even convicted criminals have better access to their children 2.That is the extent of judicial apathy towards children and good fathers in family courts!
Our Family Laws and Courts are not only functioning insensitively in an anti-child, anti-father and anti-family manner, but are also flouting U.N’s Child Rights Convention (CRC) and even the Constitution of India3. Child’s rights cannot be subordinated to anything!
The Indian judiciary would do well to educate itself, provide training to judges and inculcate good international practices in the family law systems. The judiciary must become more accountable, transparent, improve the quality of justice and urgently implement extensive judicial reforms in right earnest, if it wishes to be a credible and potent justice system.
Why is a Family institution needed in the first place? Family is the most fundamental building block of society. It builds healthy human beings and healthy society. When family system breaks, its leads to serious social consequences4 and surge in crime rates. A main contributor to teenage pregnancies is broken families. It’s well known that children from broken homes are more prone to crime.
In US, it has been found after extensive scientific research that children from broken families without a father are:
14 times more likely to commit rape
5 times more likely to commit suicide
20 times more likely to end up in prison
10 times more likely to take drugs
32 times more likely to run away from home
20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders
9 times more likely to drop out of school
9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution
From here it’s a short step to even more serious anti-national crimes like terrorism. Social upheaval/ instability are heavily exploited by anti-nationals and terrorists.
For a country like India, the breaking of the family system will be catastrophic to social well being and economic growth. Even today, the government spends crores on internal security. People are spending years in courts instead of engaging productively.
CRISP’s Achievements
Extensively campaigned to implement SHARED PARENTING. Currently engaging with the government on this. In-fact, National Commission for Protection Of Child Rights (NCPCR), Government of India appreciated CRISP for educating the society and legal fraternity on the significance of Shared Parenting.
1.CRISP has created a national forum and made representations to the Chief Justice of India,
WCD Ministry and Law Commission to make Shared Parenting mandatory.
2.Over 2500 members strong and growing. Now CRISP has 7 chapters across the nation.
3.Mothers who have been deprived of child custody are also members of CRISP.
4.Some reputed women’s organizations are supporting CRISP’s efforts.
5.Engaging with leading medical professionals to provide quality counseling. This is to prevent
suicides of deprived and abused fathers like Syed Makhdoom who committed suicide and whose
child is now fatherless.
6.CRISP has conducted several workshops, seminars and press meets pertaining to children issues
and sensitized the society and successfully spread the message of shared parenting.
7.Many deprived parents have benefited from CRISP counseling and have successfully got orders
for weekends and 50% vacation custody of their children.
8.CRISP provides quality information through its website www.crisp-india.org. Thousands of victims
have made use of this information which is the first of its kind in the country.
CRISP’s Demands:
• Basic right of children to access both biological parents
• Implementation of UN’s Child Rights Convention and Hague’s Convention on Parental Child Abduction.
• Implement SHARED PARENTING / JOINT CUSTODY as a rule in separation and divorce cases.
• Setting up Special Guardian Courts in every major city
• Speedy and quality justice (within 3 months)
• Rational and Gender neutral Family Laws (including DV Act)
• Create a separate Child Welfare Ministry at the National Level and separate from WCD Ministry
• Laws against International Parental Child Abduction and Child Alienation
• Enroll organizations like NIMHANS to carry out research on Child Psychology of separated children. Laws to be framed based on scientific studies.
• Compulsory counseling to parent-litigants on Shared Parenting for child’s welfare.
• Ban child interviews of tender age children, who have not had adequate access with the noncustodial parent.
• Appoint psychologists/ child psychologists as mediators and to encourage shared parenting.
• Ban lawyers as mediators! They are suited for arbitration not mediation!
• Ban lawyers form Family Courts (implement the Family Court Act which discourages engaging lawyers).Encourage party in person after giving adequate counseling.
• Grant visitation rights to grand parents who want to have access to the grandchildren.
• Harsh Punishment for Child Abusers including non-compliance of court orders concerning child visitation.
• Punish people who misuse dowry & domestic violence act as a weapon to cut off the children from the father.
• Make the domestic violence act gender neutral and also to protect the child from domestic violence from even the mother.
We appeal & invite our media friends to kindly grace the occasion since media has a very important role in educating the society on this highly sensitive subject of children who constitute 40% of the population and not vote banks & ensure our children are saved from being fatherless since the divorce rates in the cities are escalating and in Bangalore alone there are over 15000 cases pending.
Speakers for the press conference are:
Kumar V Jahgirdar President CRISP
Anil Kumar President Save Indian Family (NGO)
Roshni Mathan Teacher and Woman’s Rights Activist
Jayanth T.K Legal Counselor
CRISP’s is supported by the following NGOs and organizations:
SAVE INDIAN FAMILY
SUMANGALI SEVA ASHRAMA
FAMILY HARMONY SOCIETY
PURE (Mysore)
AIMPF, AIDPF
SOURCE:
1. The American Bar Association initiated a 12 year study by Dr. Richard Gardner and subsequently
carried forward by many others.
2. Francis Cora lie Mullin vs. The Administrator, Union Territory of Delhi, (1981) 2 SCR 516
(Justice P.N Bhagwati) which struck down Rule 559A of the Punjab Prison’s manual and allowed
a detune to see his/her child twice a week.
3. 1978 AIR 597 MANEKA GANDHI vs. Union of India: Article 21 of the Constitution enshrines
the right to life and liberty which includes right to a dignified life, free from social stigma, freedom
of movement. Article 39(e) & (f) protects a child from abuse!
4. U.S Department of Justice, National Criminal Justice Reference Service
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#csus
http://www.ncjrs.gov/app/Search/Abstracts.aspx?id=206316
KUMAR V JAHGIRDAR
President CRISP
Childrens Rights Initiative For Shared Parenting (CRISP)
(Regd. NGO) www.crisp-india.org (email: kvjahgirdar@yahoo.com)
# 78, Osborne Road, (Near Lake Side Hospital), Bangalore - 42, India.
Helpline No: +91 80 25593848, Mobile No: +91 98452 64488.
More at Fathers Day Rally organised in Bangalore more @ http://www.mynews.in/News/Fathers_Day_Rally_organised_in_Bangalore_N61783.html and http://www.bhavyafoundation.org/press-releases.html
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