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‘Divorce celebration’ event in Bhopal cancelled after protests

Event to celebrate divorce of 18 men was to be held on Sept 18

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A unique ‘divorce celebration’ event proposed to be held in Bhopal on September 18 has been cancelled by organizer NGO Bhai Welfare Society after an invitation card went viral leading to protests by right wing organizations and consequent cancellation of the event venue booking by the owners.

President of the society Zaki Ahmed confirmed to THE WEEK that the event stood cancelled. “We do not want any controversy. The invitation card, which was an enthusiastic initiative of some young members, went viral and attracted protests from organizations like Sanskriti Bachao Manch. Today, the booking of our venue was cancelled by the owners. So we have decided to not organize any event as of now,” Ahmed said.

An invitation card of the ‘vivah vicched samaroh’ (marriage dissolution/divorce ceremony) promised the event to be unique. It listed very interesting ‘rituals’ like ‘Jaimala/Baaraat Visarjan’ (marriage garland/procession dissolution), ‘Gents Sangeet’ (musical event on the lines of ladies sangeet in marriage ceremony), ‘Sadbuddhi Shuddhikaran Yagna’ (fire ritual for good sense and purification), seven steps and oaths to work for human dignity and distribution of divorce decrees by the chief guest.

The event was to be held on September 18 from 11am at a resort in Bilkhiria on the outskirts of capital Bhopal. About 200 members of the society were to participate in the event.

Ahmed said that the event was intended to be a private get together to celebrate divorce of 18 men who fought a tough legal battle for over two and a half years.

“Normally we celebrate such divorces by cutting cake. But due to Covid-19 pandemic we could not meet, so we decided on a get-together. Enthusiastic young members drafted the invitation letter and we took it lightly. But it suddenly went viral all over the country,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed said that the aim of the society was to help men in distress and offer them legal and psychological support free of cost. The Save Indian Family helpline was a 24x7 free service. 

“We are not anti-women, but against the misuse of laws,” Ahmed said. 

Chandrashekhar Tiwari, president of Bhopal-based Sanskriti Bachao Manch, had taken objection to the event, saying that no attack on Indian culture will be tolerated. Tiwari had warned of a protest at the venue and submission of a memorandum to the home minister for action. He had also warned of a criminal case against the organiser if they did not call off the event.

Bhai Welfare Society is the Madhya Pradesh chapter of the NGO, Save Indian Family, which as per its introduction on its website, “intends to work for men’s welfare and strongly believe in replacing the word Men/Women by Person and Husband/Wife by Spouse in any Government law/policy”.

“Save Indian Family is a strong team of dedicated families comprising of victims of misuse of Section 498A, Dowry Death and many other similar section of the Indian Penal Code, Various sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act, Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act – 2005, Section 125 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), All the Marriage Acts (Hindu, Muslim, Christian etc) , Special Marriage Act, Guardians and Wards Act, Rape, Sexual Harassment at Work Place etc and other gender biased laws in India,” the NGO website says.

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