Such inhumane things are still rampant across India.
The ‘curse’ of having a girl
By Navdip Dhariwal
BBC News, Delhi
**India might be a country rushing headlong into 21st century but every year thousands of babies are aborted or killed at birth because they are girls. **Our correspondent contemplates this as she prepares to have a baby herself. The heat is stifling here. Some days it’s pushing 45 degrees. My body is overheating and we’re only two thirds of the way there! I’m not alone - 25 million other women are expected to give birth in India this year. With the very best medical care, our bundle of joy stands a good chance, but one out of 22 Indian babies will not survive beyond its first month. According to UNICEF, poor nutrition and hygiene, and a high number of young mothers contribute to low birth weights and slim chances of survival.
Killed at birth
If our baby is a girl - her arrival is likely to be greeted, by some, with condolences. A friend - delighted with his new daughter soon became infuriated at comments that his home had been cursed with a girl. “Relatives arrived laden with gifts of sweet meats,” he said. “They cuddled her and shook their heads at our misfortune.” My mother told me how guilty and how much of a failure she was made to feel when I arrived a year after my older sister. These are attitudes engrained in many sections of Indian society. More than 10 million female fetuses have been aborted in India in the last two decades. The prospect of paying a dowry and knowing a daughter could never generate the income of a son is enough for some families to commit murder.In my parents’ native Punjab, girls are often killed at birth. It has skewed the ratio of girls to boys so much that some villages have not seen the birth of a female in years. Thousands of men in rural areas now have trouble finding a wife. I remember the stories my mother told me - of the neighbour who would take baby girls in the middle of the night and drown them in the village well. My mother also told me how guilty and how much of a failure she was made to feel when I arrived a year after my older sister. It is not only in the countryside that daughters are unwanted. Middle class, educated women are often at the front of the queue to terminate.
According to a report in Nexus, in a certain block in Katihar district, 35 dais accepted having killed three to four babies a month, making the total number of female babies who are killed approximately 560 per month. Ten dais in the Sitamarhi districts claim to have killed 1-2 babies a month. In this state alone there are approximately five lakhs dais and the number of female babies killed can just be imagined.
A CMJI report quoting UNICEF says, ** 40-50 million girls ** have gone 'missing' in India in 1990. They are termed as missing as they were either murdered at the time of their birth or within few hours of birth.
very sad state of a state that is painted shiny picture always. these people should be punished, they are being punished when they dont find wife for own sons later in life.
this dark ages acts should be stopped!! so india work on it not just IT!
Let a female child be born somewhere else, because I already have a daughter.
Families needed atleast one male child because of the way the sciety was built. A son was social security for old parents. Thus it was unfortunate not to have atleast one male child. But that never meant that female children were unwanted in general. Ofcourse there would be personal preferences, but thats there everywhere in every religion.
Women have been given the status of Gods and Rshishika's (Rshish's). Another reason to be proud to be a hindu. No other religion gives this status to women.
RigVeda - Become the house-hold's mistress; Ruler of the home, you will address the religious assembly.
Here is the challange for people like you once for all.
If the verse or reference I quoted is wrong, tell us what is right, IF you have read your holy books. How about that. It is not about picking up bad things on some "Anti-Hindu" websites, it is about what it says so explicitly......
