Huqooq-e- Mardan, Madad-e-Khuda

Well, a lot has been spoken for women and the bill that was passed for their protection but no one, as Sahibzada Zahid M Qasmi is worried, ever spoke for the battered men. It’s only fair that they are given their due rights that have been taken away by the women so often that a bill is needed for their protection. Such a matriarchal society we live in - makes you feel ashamed of being a woman.

A couple of days ago a request was put forward in the Council of Islamic Ideology for “Protection of men’s rights bills” after months of protests over women's’ rights bill. The chairman of the Council accepted the request and now a bunch of respected well versed gentlemen will sit around the oval shaped polished table and decide to provide battered men some relief.

According to the petitioner, men get abused by women too and they are also kicked out of the houses as well. Fair point! Any men who are being abused by women should get justice. The same council that accepted this request had rejected women protection bill stating that men are justified to beat wife in “light manner.”

Well, a lot has been spoken for women and the bill that was passed for their protection but no one, as Sahibzada Zahid M Qasmi is worried, ever spoke for the battered men. It’s only fair that they are given their due rights that have been taken away by the women so often that a bill is needed for their protection. Such a matriarchal society we live in - makes you feel ashamed of being a woman.

Its no surprise that there are way too many women who beat their husbands everyday for not going to work, not mowing the lawn or, picking the kids from school? How about the men who are forced to sleep all day while their wives are cleaning other people’s houses and later are paid to drink and do drugs and then are forced in bed later in the night?

Did you hear about the women who have forced sex on their husbands, and beat them till they are black and blue for refusing? who are harassing men on streets, gas stations and markets? throw acid on their cousin’s or finance’s face for refusing to marry her? or the famous one honor killing. How many killed their husbands, brothers, sons or fathers in law for talking to another women or being too open on Facebook or wanting to marry for love

Did you see that news where a men was buried chest deep in the ground and women gathered around to stone him to death? and the one who was shot point blank in the head for marrying to the women he wanted to marry? How about that news where bunch of women who beat, dragged and repeatedly jumped on a young man and burnt him alive on the allegations of blasphemy?

Recently there was one model by the name of Baloch. A young man who made some provocative videos on Facebook and threaten a maulana sahib’s reputation was strangled in his sleep by the hands of his sisters in honor killing. I also saw that horrible video by mistake where a fifteen year old young brother was stabbed repeatedly by his own sister for talking to a girl over the phone. That heartless sister was also seen sitting next to the slowly dying brother, moaning in pain bleeding profusely and sister was playing games on her mobile phone.

Not just women, but the transgenders are very active these days in abusing men. We hear news  of a transgender or two beating a man, shoot and kill him, rape him in groups for not paying the extortion money?

Oh wait! all those perpetrators were men. The ones who abused and harassed women and transgenders; assaulted, raped and killed them too.

Women are fighting for their rights which have slowly been taken away either by religion or culture and men have been given all the power over them that they feel entitled to show their power over them.

Why is it only the women who are being killed in the name of honor, how come we never hear about men being raped by women because they were asking for it? Why are their only women who are/were being killed in the custom of Karo Kari, being wani, satti, or in certain cases being married to Quran.

Since we have seen women have started to raise their voice against violence, it appears that those men who find it unacceptable that women could speak and challenge the false authority, started a counter narrative resulting in the request for a protection of men’s rights bill.

It hasn't been clear yet that what rights are those that need protection of a codified law but it appears it has something along the lines of not kicking men out of the houses and/or not getting beat up by wife’s brothers, possibly in reaction to beating his wife. Not all men are abusers and not all women are victims but the numbers of male offenders are dangerously high when it comes to violence against a gender. 

Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them ~ Oscar Wilde

Mona Hassan is HCMA (Humanist & Cultural Muslim Association) Communications Manager and Human Rights Activist; Author “Barely Legal”. Follow her on Twitter

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