The name of the petition might sound absurd but that is the issue that I want to raise. 'S/D/W of' in any documentation form or government document such as the Driving License stands for 'son of', 'daughter of', and 'wife of' respectively. Article 14 of the Constitution of India states “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India”. While this sounds perfect but the actual implementation is seen to be often lacking.

While a husband has the legal rights to be the natural guardian of his wife, why isn't a wife not considered a natural guardian of her husband? Why don't all forms and documents mention the option of 'Husband of'? Why isn't it 'S/D/W/H' but 'S/D/W'? This is a very basic established institutional practice of patriarchy in society. We, however, tend to ignore it most of the time because of its minuteness and thus this practice has been continuing in the Republic of India for so long. How long are we going to look down on women and consider them to be incompetent when they have tirelessly proved to be more capable than men at times?

The need of the hour is to bring social equality for all irrespective of their religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth and I believe this change will act as a little drop into the ocean and contribute towards the long road to achieving equality that we have embarked upon. The Government of India should take note and make it compulsory by law to mention the option of 'Husband of' and work towards ending all such discriminatory established patriarchal practices or end the use of 'Wife of' if it deems the inclusion of 'H/O' unfit.