Press Release for Father's Day Rally by CRISP - 18-Jun-2011 - Town Hall Steps, Bangalore

CRISP is an NGO formed in 2008, by people who recognize the serious effects of Parental Alienation of children due to single parent families on account of divorce or separation. CRISP fights against alienation of children from their parent(s) in the ever increasing divorce/ separation rates in the social realities of our contemporary society. CRISP also focuses on furthering the rights of children to remain connected with both biological parents. We are a pro-family and a pro-life organization, our aims and objectives are to promote family harmony in our society and are based on research findings. We are a large group of people from all walks of life, like software engineers, doctors, teachers, businessmen, social workers, etc. which includes women and senior citizens, to address this burning issue in our society.

CRISP has organized National Father's Day Rally on Saturday, the 18th June, 2011 between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM at TOWN HALL STEPS, JC ROAD, Bangalore, to demand FAMILY LAW REFORMS, highlight the grievances of Fathers deprived of access to their children and children to their fathers due to biased laws and failure of our  judicial, legislative and executive systems on all fronts on this sensitive matter and a serious human rights issue, this protest dharna is on behalf of our children, who are voiceless victims & protect their rights to be connected to both biological parents.

Father's Day is celebrated worldwide to honor the contribution of ‘Fathers’. In India also the Father's day is being celebrated since many years as an expression of love and tribute to the Fathers. Present day fathers are actively involved in parenting their children in every way and in all spheres of their development. In the changed scenario of our family system, especially in cities the role of the father is paramount and must be recognized equally along with the Mother. Shared parenting is the only solution for the normal growth of children whose parents are separated.

Divorce rates are unfortunately going up substantially (over 30% and increasing) year on year, especially in educated & urban class people. There are more than 17,000 cases in the Family Courts of Bangalore alone, pending disposal and lakhs of cases still pending in various cities in our country. CRISP is concerned with the growing custody battles between the parents and the ill effects on the children due to their parents' separation. We speak for the rights of the innocent impacted Children who are deprived of the love and affection of both their natural parents and shared parenting is the only alternative arrangement to spend quality time with both its natural parents, since parents divorce is inevitable in the present day world & lifestyle of people

The traditional Indian Value system has undergone a sea change from the olden days where the mother was the nurturer and the father a provider to the child. Present day fathers are actively involved, physically and emotionally in parenting children and are equally competent in taking care of the needs of the child and take on the responsibilities of child upbringing and are in no way inferior to the mother. The anti-father mindset is not valid, but still persists in our archaic and cruel systems. Typically in divorce and separation cases, one of the parents, out of revenge against the other parent deprives the child of the love, affection and care of the other parent. This is one of the worst forms of child abuse, as the children suffer the consequences of permanent psychological damage from resulting disorders like Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) and Reactive Associative Disorders that warp a child’s development. Studies have shown that there is a tendency for such children to become criminals in their later years, for which the society and our system are directly responsible. Please see CRISP website http://www.crisp-india.org for details.

Speakers for the press conference are:

·         Kumar V Jahgirdar  (President) - 98452 64488

·         Sivakumar Challa (Secretary)

·         Jayanth T.K (Counselor)

·         Avinash Kumar (Counselor)

·         Roshni Mathan (Social Activist)

Kids bear brunt of divorce - Vanitha Vijaykumar case and CRISP comments

Court orders tests on Vanitha son
Feb. 2: Playing a proactive role in a child custody case, the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed actress Vanitha’s former husband Akash to take their son Vijay Sri Hari to a doctor at Government Children’s Hospital, Egmore, to determine if the child has any deep-rooted problems or is acting under external influences.
Posting to February 15 further hearing of a petition filed by Akash seeking custody of his son, Justice V. Ramasubramanian directed him to take his son to Dr V. Jayanthini on or before February 6 for an examination. After the assessment, the doctor will send her report to the Registrar General of the court on or before February 14.
“Akash and Vanitha should not cause any kind of interference with the process and if the specialists direct, they must subject themselves to examination. Till a report is filed, they are directed to maintain status quo and not to precipitate matters,” the judge added.
“The case has posed the greatest challenge that I have ever encountered in a child custody case,” the judge said. “For once I found myself at my wit’s end on how to deal with a nine-year old boy.”
“The total aversion he now exhibits towards his biological mother could be the result of either of two extreme situations,” he added. “Either the child suffered some kind of abuse (not in the sense that we normally understand the term child abuse, but in a broader sense) when he was with his biological mother and stepfather or his biological father tutored the child so well that he is refusing to go with his mother.”
“Truth appears to be the worst casualty these days in all family disputes and it appears to lie somewhere between two extremes,” the judge observed.
“To find out where it lies, to the extent that it is humanly possible, I am of the view that the child could be subjected to an assessment by an expert in the field. The object is to help the child overcome the internal struggle and trauma that he has been undergoing for the past few months.”
Victims of tug-of-war
Feb. 1: While growing up in the middle of a bad marriage is trauma, living through a divorce battle is worse for children, especially in a country where the laws are insensitive, say members of the NGO Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting (CRISP).
“Inter-parental child abduction is considered a crime in many of the countries that have signed the Hague Convention of Child Abduction. But, India is not a signatory to the convention and, hence, has become a haven for parents who turn into child abductors,” says Mr Suresh Ram of CRISP.
Most child custody battles that have are splashed in the media have clearly exposed the inadequacy of the system that prevails in India in preventing child abduction.
“Our judiciary is already overburdened. We are of the strong view that child custody cases should be handled by a separate jury under the National Commission for Child Welfare (NCCW) so that such cases are dealt with sensitivity and are disposed of speedily,” CRISP members said.
The first-of-its-kind organisation was formed by Mr Suresh Jagirdar, who has a decades-long custody battle with his former wife Chetana, who later married cricketer Anil Kumble. “CRISP was started to voice the concerns of the child who is the ultimate sufferer. Today, we have 30,000 members and receive hundreds of calls from across the country every week,” Mr Jagirdar says.
“Our agenda is clear. We are only for shared parenting of the child and strongly believe that both biological parents should play an equal role in the growth of the child.” But, they claim that most cases that go to court receive one-sided verdicts. “Even that verdict does not get honoured. At least, parents should abide by the law and refrain from abducting their own children,” CRISP members said.

Source : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/kids-bear-brunt-divorce-660

Fathers Day 2010 by CRISP

Please find the youtube link for the Father's day 2010 video by CRISP(Children's Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting) below :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brl9DeeNK38