Ranchi : The Jharkhand High Court has observed that a married woman’s right to pursue higher education and a career is her inherent right and not a privilege granted by her husband. The court said that describing contrary views of a woman’s desire to study or work as “ambition” or “over-ambition” reflects a discriminatory mindset and is rooted in gender bias. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Manoj Prasad made the observations while allowing a matrimonial appeal filed by a woman from Jamshedpur seeking divorce on grounds of mental and physical cruelty.

The Bench set aside a March 16, 2019 order of the Family Court in Jamshedpur, which had dismissed her divorce petition. The High Court examined evidence presented by the wife during the appeal proceedings. She had testified before the Family Court and had corroborated the allegations by statements of her father, Alakh Ram, and neighbour, Pankaj Kumar Singh. The court noted that the husband neither produced any witness in his defence nor cross-examined the wife and her witnesses properly.

The Bench further observed that although the husband had denied the allegations in his written statement, his response was vague and general. Referring to provisions under Order VIII Rules 3, 4 and 5 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), the court said allegations must be specifically and categorically denied, and a blanket denial is legally insufficient. The court held that the Family Court had erred in disregarding the wife’s testimony. It also disagreed with the lower court’s observation that the wife’s education and employment were the result of the husband’s generosity and support. The High Court said that when a husband continues his education or career after marriage, it is considered normal, and the same standard must apply to a wife. Judicial decisions, it added, cannot be based on gender stereotypes. Setting aside the Family Court order, the High Court granted the woman a decree of divorce.

New Delhi : Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, suffered a major heartbreak and a deeply personal tragedy soon after marriage, as their newborn child passed away hours after birth. Sonia, in her autobiography titled ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, shares that the environment of joy and happiness that prevailed in the Gandhi household over her pregnancy turned sombre and macabre as she and Rajiv lost their first child, despite the newborn appearing healthy. She also recounts how her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi cut short her official tours and took time out to console and comfort the grieving young parents. According to the memoir, Sonia gave birth to a baby boy on January 18, 1969, and it was a preterm delivery. This happened about a year before Rahul Gandhi’s birth in 1970.

“I heard the baby’s first cry as he was placed in the incubator. Later Rajiv took me to see him, a tiny, perfectly formed boy, with thick, black hair and long, slim fingers,” Media quoted her saying in the memoir. “We fell in love with him immediately,” she adds. Hours later, they were told by the doctors that their child was no more. Penning down the excruciating experience, she says that the shock and fear of losing their first child was utterly difficult for both of them to swallow. “No, it was not possible! Why, why, I kept asking. Both of us were shocked and heartbroken,” she writes. Rajiv Gandhi also grieved and broke down over the child’s loss and cried along with her despite his “stiff upper lip” upbringing. She further recalls Indira Gandhi truncating her official tours and rushing back to the hospital to comfort and help them overcome the irreparable loss.

“She embraced us, her eyes red and swollen,” she says, recounting how the former Prime Minister sat with them. The Congress leader also shares the ‘anguished moments’ of bidding goodbye to their deceased child and how she refused the proposal of disposing of the body in a river, as was the traditional practice prevalent then. According to the memoir, the prospect of laying the infant’s body to rest was debated at home multiple times, and finally it was decided that the child be buried at Feroze Gandhi’s farm in South Delhi’s Mehrauli. “It was a painful and agonising option, but there was no other way,” she further says in the memoir and also adds that for a long time, she and Rajiv would pause and place a flower each time near the bougainvillaea bush, where the child was buried.

New Delhi : Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain, on Tuesday, accused veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of shedding “crocodile tears” over the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, to “attract Muslim vote bank”. This comes amid a row over Sonia Gandhi’s memoir ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, released earlier in the day. In a self-made video, Surendra Jain said: “The entire world felt a sense of pride when the Babri structure, which symbolised the alleged brutality of the foreign invader Babur, was demolished. But Sonia Gandhi was shedding tears. She herself wrote this in her book.” “Sonia Gandhi also wept when brave Delhi Police officers killed terrorists responsible for bomb blasts in Delhi during an encounter. She repeatedly shed ‘crocodile tears’ to attract the Muslim vote bank,” he remarked.

“Did Sonia Gandhi shed tears when Inspector Mohan Sharma was killed by terrorists during the Batla House encounter?” he asked. The VHP leader further questioned whether the Congress leader reacted when more than 300 Hindu temples were allegedly destroyed in the Kashmir Valley, or when hundreds of Hindus were massacred there. Referring to the atrocities against Hindus in the valley, Jain claimed: “She didn’t even react to these issues, forget getting emotional.” Further, Jain alleged that thousands of Sikhs were massacred in 1984 “under orders from Sonia Gandhi’s husband, former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi”. “Did she shed tears then or oppose her husband?” he asked. He added: “When saints were peacefully protesting for ‘protection of cows’ in Delhi, your (Sonia Gandhi’s) mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, opened fire on them, scores of saints were killed. You were silent on that, too.”

Referring to the Pahalgam terror attack, he said: “Hindu tourists were identified by their religion and then shot dead. Why did you (Sonia Gandhi) not express similar grief over that incident?” Surendra Jain claimed that the Hindu society is hurt not only by Sonia Gandhi’s remarks but also by statements made by members of her party — what he described as the “secular” camp. He alleged that these groups repeatedly “hurt Hindu sentiments and have a history of supporting anti-national terrorists”. Referring to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s recent remark, he said: “Your party leader has made a comparison between Eid and Diwali, describing Eid as a pure festival that does not contribute to pollution, unlike Diwali. Till when will you keep hurting Hindu sentiments?” Moreover, Jain urged Sonia Gandhi to apologise for her statements and for those made by her associates, warning that otherwise the people of the country would not forgive her.