On an evening when I came back from my college, I found my mother sitting in the neighborhood, I just went there to know what is the matter and asked my sister in law what happened and why she looks ill. She replied in a low and husky voice, “beta I just had an abortion”. I asked what happened. The answer I got was, “because she was a girl “. I asked “so?” My grandmother sitting beside her replied “beta ek ladki pahle se hi hai dusra to ladka ho” (there is a girl already in the house now we want a baby boy) .
My face became red and I came back to my home with my mother after a while and I asked my mother , “Maa why it is so important to have a baby boy?”
Maa replied, “beta a girl always needs a male in her life either as a brother, father, son ,or husband, we can’t survive in this society without them.” I said, “But Maa you brought up me n bhai (brother) all alone.” Maa didn’t say anything and was I forced to shut my mouth.
The whole night the only question running through my mind was-, “what was the mistake of that unborn child, that she was a girl or she was going to take birth here”.
India, where we women are treated as a Goddess, Ardhangini (better half), but are always dominated by this male dominant society. Why it is so important to have a male child? Why can’t a girl take the responsibility of her family? Why she is always said to be “paraya dhan” or you belong to other home “agla ghar”.
Women are always at the receiving end in Indian society, they are ill treated or tortured on every stage. She has to struggle for her life on each and every moment from taking birth to living in this society. Laws are made but not a single case has been filed so far under the law.
The worst part is that women themselves are the one who murder their daughter. Female foeticide is leading to the imbalance of sex ratio. There are more males than females in an alarming trend girl child number in India have shown a sharper decline than the male children in the decade beginning 2001 leading to a skewed child sex ratio. During 2001-2011 the share of children in total population has declined, and the decline was sharper for female children, said the studies. The decline in the child sex ratio in India is evident by comparing census figure, in 1991 the figure was 947 girls over 1000 boys, ten years later fallen to 927 girls over 1000 boys.
Haryana, one of the richest state in India, has taken the top most position in skewed sex ratio, other prominent States are Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh etc., except North-East India one can see the skewed sex ratio all over India. Going by this, next census of 2022 will definitely show a further reduction in sex ratio. In a recent report by Red Cross Society, there are a large number of bachelors who have crossed the marriageable age in Punjab and Haryana because of shortage of girls.
Laws like – Dowry Prohibition Act (1961) states that if a person shall be deemed guilty if he demands any dowry.
Sex selection is covered under – Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act 2002
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) act (1971) legalizes abortion under certain conditions.
As the laws is always criticized, these 3 laws have also been under the scanner and several parts of it have been claimed to be extra or less strict than necessary. The laws have been passed fine, but the reason sex determination and illegal abortion still takes place is the improper and inadequate implementation of these laws. The law is not being properly implemented and proper action has not been taken against those found guilty.
India is not a woman friendly place, neither unborn nor born ones are allowed to live here.
