It would seem that women have it all—the fears, tears, laws, commissions, rights organisations and even a globally commemorated Women’s Day. However, some argue that as the pink tide turns more forceful, men are increasingly feeling the blues. This supposed imbalance may have prompted Karnataka State Commission for Women chairperson Nagalakshmi Chowdhary to propose a men’s commission to address the sterner sex’s complaints regarding persecution, and lopsided divorce and custody laws. Harassed men will vouch they have little institutional support by way of forums or legal aid.
As the gender divide closes ever-so-slowly with greater education, financial independence and empowerment for women—aided by the internet for some—it seems that the alpha male is on the retreat. Fewer young Indians are supporting restrictive partriarchal norms, even though such deep-rooted biases show up every now and then.
Meanwhile, several Indian men claim they are victims of an unfair legal system with laws like the Penal Code’s Section 498A (dowry harassment; Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) and often spend years fighting false cases. They are denied child custody and endure emotional abuse even while fulfilling financial obligations. Even the Supreme Court noted the increasing misuse of anti-dowry laws and restrained the police from automatically arresting husbands and their kin.
Though the idea of a men’s commission is not new, it has found fresh currency after the alleged murders of Raja Raghuvanshi in Meghalaya and Ketan Agarwal near Lonavala. Last December, Rajya Sabha member Ashok Kumar Mittal moved a private member’s Bill for a men’s commission to protect the “rights and welfare of men”, “review existing laws and policies” and look at “issues impacting men’s physical, mental and social well-being”. In Kerala, former Congress MLA Eldhose Kunnappilly had also proposed a similar commission. A petition in the Supreme Court in 2023 seeking guidelines to address men’s harassment highlighted government data that a large number of those who had taken their own lives in 2021 were married men.
It reminds us of Atul Subhash, a 34-year-old Bengaluru techie who died by suicide in 2024 after years of harassment by his wife and her family. There are many Atuls waiting for justice. That’s why gender equality campaigners claim that a men’s commission for India is an idea whose time has come.