It is an irony that female deities are worshipped and women in general often subjugated. It reveals the fact that a healthy male-female ratio is a social need. It is shocking to learn that the educated and affluent resort to sex-selective abortions in larger numbers. The issue here is not just about mere numbers but human values. It is reported that one of the root causes for the evil practice of female foeticide is the dowry system. Inspite of being attempts made by the media and the government to highlight the negative impact of pre-natal sex identification and selective abortion, the practice continues as reflected in the declining sex ratio. One wonders why, even after the alarming decline in child sex ratio, no political party has initiated any programme to save the girl child.
It’s high time one stops killing girl child in their mother’s wombs. The problem begins right at the time of birth. The birth of a daughter is regarded as a calamity. The hunger for male children is so ravenous that sex determination clinics proliferate madly. Faulty legislation, admittedly, is only a contributory factor to the continuing evils of the women’s condition. Undoubtedly, the thinking of society has to change, parents must value their daughters on a par with their sons, give them the same advantages and means of independence. At the same time, the law must demonstrate that it will come down with a heavy hand on offenders. One fails to imagine why girl child is denied a right to live in some communities and why are women still the most chronically undernourished sections of the population?
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
