Burning effigies of
Ravana is a common practice on Dussehra, but some “harassed”
husbands celebrated the festival here in a slightly different
way – by burning an effigy of Surpanakha, sister of the
mythical multi-headed demon king. These men- members of ‘Patni Pidit Purush Sanghatana’,
an organisation of victims of harassment by wives- burned the
effigy on Thursday evening at Karoli village near Aurangabad
in Maharashtra. Talking to PTI, founder of the organisation Bharat
Phulare said, “All the laws in India are against men and
favour women. They are misusing it to harass their husbands
and in-laws over petty issues.”
“We condemn this tyranny against men in the nation. In
a symbolic move, our organisation burnt an effigy of
Surpanakha on the occasion of Dussehra last evening,” he said. As per Hindu mythology, Suparnakha was the root cause
behind the battle between Ravana and Rama. In order to avenge
the insult of Surpanakha, Ravana disguised himself as a sage
and kidnapped Sita, which ultimately led to the war. Phulare claimed that as per the 2015 records, of the
total number of married people who committed suicide in the
country, 74 per cent were men.Some members of the organisation also raised question
marks over the ongoing #MeToo movement.