Why The Government Of India Is Going To Make It mandatory To Buy Babies Before Marriage?
It was in 1984, an anti-girl pampering group in India tried to execute a plan to “Save The Girl”. Her name wasSave the Girl; she was to be a baby girl. The group was made up of Hindu fundamentalists and other right wingers. It was a simple case of girl gendercide; he was convinced that a woman, Save the Girl, deserved a life. And hence it reaffirmed his belief to his core that his organization, Save the Girl Child, actually was needed just as much as ever.
The Save the Girl Child’s name in English is “Indian Feminine Rightist Mothers’ Association”. It is ironic that a group which advocates the right to kill female infants should take up a cause like girl child deaths in India. What kind of message does this send to future generations? And what of the future of India, if such a stance is taken?
It is no longer acceptable to kill a girl child simply because she is a female. There is much talk of female infanticide in developed countries and this has come down from more organized societies where killing of females is a tradition. But in the developing world, we are seeing that the trend is towards female empowerment and holistic development. It is this empowerment which is needed in both the urban areas and the rural villages.
What is being taught here? That there is no problem with killing a girl child because she is a female? Or that teenage pregnancy is something to be abhorred, but a practice which is encouraged because it provides “fertility benefit” to the family? Or that the various social problems faced by teenage pregnancy in India are caused by culture, rather than vice versa? Or perhaps that these problems are not caused by culture, but by failure to enforce existing laws and create better legislation to curb teenage pregnancy?
If we want to promote better holistic development in India, then this cannot be the philosophy which we follow. The whole ethos of Save The Girl Child should be changed and education should be taken as a positive endeavor which promotes holistic development of a nation, rather than just the promotion of female foeticide. Education is the best way to achieve this. And there has to be a ban on the dowry system which is responsible for the excessive number of female foeticide in India. This alone could help.
Even though the dowry system has its roots in Hindu religion, this cannot be allowed to prevail. And hence, education can help change this mindset and encourage people to value education – not just girls’ education, but all of the educations for all. Since the dowry system was started in India, most of the young girls were married off at very early age to much older men and thus lost the right to live a life independently. But since the beginning of the twenty first century, Indian government has been working towards changing this mentality. Many legal battles have been fought and people’s lives saved. All this alone will ensure that the future of Indian girl children will not only be secured, but also free from any female foeticide.
