29 Oct 09 India’s Mothers-In-Law Fight Back
BANGALORE — Each week, in a corner of Bangalore’s historic Cubbon Park, a group of men and women gather to swap stories and vent their emotions. They are part of the newly launched All India Mother-in-law Protection Forum.
It is a motley gathering of teachers, retired air force officers, doctors and software engineers, all educated, urban Indians drawn together by a common cause.
They are “victims,” who have banded together to fight the harassment and abuse they say they endure at the hands of the rude, domineering, greedy young women who marry into their families.
A hundred or more members attend these weekly sessions in Bangalore, a trend that sociologists say reflects the breakdown of traditional roles in India’s fast-changing urban society.
“These groups are a response to the growing tensions and ruptures within the established Indian family system,” said professor A. R. Vasavi of the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore.
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