Father’s Day this June 15 will be much more than just cards and flowers for hundreds of men.
NEW DELHI: Father’s Day this June 15 will be much more than just cards and flowers for hundreds of men. Led by Kumar Jahgirdhar, ex-husband of cricketer Anil Kumble’s wife Chetana, who lost custody of his daughter to his estranged wife, a group of aggrieved fathers have decided to launch a campaign against “biased child custody laws”.
To start with they will stage a protest march in Bangalore on June 14. The aggrieved fathers, who are fighting custody battles in various courts, will also launch an NGO, Child Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting. It will petition the supreme court to formulate guidelines to determine a child’s welfare on scientific grounds which can be used to decide custody matters. They want courts to reserve at least 30% of primary custody for fathers besides quick disposal of custody matters.
“There is a strong gender bias in favour of women while deciding custody matters even though both parents are competent. It is normally seen that courts, in order to escape from any controversy, blindly give the child’s custody to the mother. We want the courts to give joint custody of the children to both parents as for the children both parents are equally important. Joint custody should be the preferred option as it focuses on reducing conflicts thereby contributing towards the welfare of the child. The child is eventually the winner as it gets the best of both parents. We are preparing to file a PIL in the SC to set universal guidelines for a child’s welfare which should be adopted in all suctody cases,” Jahgirdar said.
Jahgirdar, a stock broker, lost his daughter Aaruni’s custody to the Kumble couple after the court observed he didn’t have a woman in his house to take care of his daughter. He, however, was given visiting rights to meet her on weekends. He has since remarried and now plans to approach court again for custody of his daughter.
The group will also conduct awareness camps on issues related to child care, parenting and the importance of both parents in raising children. They will provide counseling to couples and promote the arrangement of joint custody of children while advocating reforms in existing laws and legal procedures so that all sections of the society are delivered justice.
“In keeping with the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on Rights of The Child, children deserve fully functioning, natural, loving, dedicated relationships with both of their parents, equally, in and out of marriage, whenever possible. A parent should not be seen as a visitor by the courts. Every parent should be entrusted with responsibility and respect and should not be treated as visitors. Shared parenting ensures that a child does not have a fractured childhood,” Jahgirdhar said.
p_vineeta@dnaindia.net
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