FEMALE INFANTICIDE: A NATIONAL SHAME

Akanksha Kashyap

"Sada Suhagan Raho,Putra vati bhavah, Bhagvan tumhe chaand sa beta de"

"Maa lakshmi give me wealth","hey maa durga mujhe sahas do,goddess Sarawati make me wise."

Huh! BOYS! BOYS! BOYS! ?  Even when the girls are admireding, why are always boys desired?  Even when the girls are admired. Enlighten me oh! you wise people, Is the position of a women in society really so feeble?

 
History is witness to a fact that Rani of Jhansi fought with same valour and dignity as any other man would have. Our mythology also supports this fact. In most of the tribal societies of those days women were the leaders of their groups. Then the men seemed to be more proud and respectful of their women.

 "DUDO NAHAO PUTO PHALO" Does it mean it is a blessing to be blessed with sons, But, what if daughter is born  -should she be drowned the  in the bucket of milk! Is that a rule of prosperity for one and death for the other. It is one of those ironies of fate ,this violence does not pose a threat to your life, if you are lucky enough to be born a boy. Isn't this a matter of national shame, that while we are here competing with other powerful nations of the world, are we not yet emancipated enough to respect a woman folks?

• A 6-year-old girl molested.,

• A newborn girl child abandoned

• A married woman being harassed for 5 years.

Very conveniently people ignore all these and go on harping the glorious and achievement of a selected few. India no doubt is a country of contradictions. In Haryana for example, the indiscriminate Killing of girl child has led to the sex ratio being skewed. Now what!!! The boys there, are looking for girls from North-East to ensure the advancement of their lineage. How ironic! Women is there to the rescue again. Your journey from a microscopic cell to a foetus, a helpless suckling infant, a dependent baby, a stubborn child, a restless toddler, a confused teenager, an insecure young woman and yet a life-companion to an accomplished person. Oh men! you are supported, protected and nurtured by a women.

I challenge all the men sitting in the house to talk on phone, send fax, reply an email, change the diaper of a toddle, offers and food o time, monitor what your school age children are watching in the T.V., and add to the grocery list, all at the same time. But, house lady is the only species that assimilates the whole world in herself and still no rights to live???

Thinking of  male dominated society is evident from the fact where in most of the cultures God is always  'HE' and not a 'SHE'. We not only kill female before birth and  kill them after birth.. We kill them while they take their first breath. We kill them while they learn to talk and say  'Mama' and 'Baba'. We kill them while they learn to smile and ask for their favourite food-mangoes and sweets. We kill them while they learn to play and listen to the stories of princesses ......I am overwhelmed. I take a moment while my heart comes back to me; my but thoughts remain in the coffin with my sister's, who could notever  see the dawn of this beautiful morning, and were buried before the night fall.

Well, now-a-days thoughts in the mind of people are slowly changing. They have started thinking that girls and boys have their own specific tasks and duties to do. They are to complement to each other and not to compete Home is the best and the first place where the role of female and male can be best practiced. Girls after education are getting opportunities to grow in professional career. While growing so lady of the family has to take extreme care to maintain balance between profession and family. This requires their male counterpart to stand up to appreciate family and professional pressures on the female and complement her in the roles; the best that they can. Family is the basic unit of society and nation where compassion, mutual respect and consideration-in-action can be nurtured. It helps to build a national character of coexistence, no more gender taboo.

I am inclined to agree that man and women are like two tires of a riding bike, just because of the two, in order, the world is still perpetuating. We all are learners of 21st century, we know the importance of education, and take a resolve that no girl is victimized I because she is female. I am blessed to born in a family where these thoughts are lived.

—00—

< Contents