|
SOCIETY
Delhi women march against mounting female foeticide
cases
New
Delhi: To protest against the growing instances
of female foeticide across the country, scores of
college students, social activists and volunteers
took to the streets in the national Capital. The women
raised posters and placards demanding that females
be given a 'right to live' and more stringent measures
be taken to stop pre-natal diagnosis, which is still
rampant despite a legislation passed in 1996. "Today,
at least 10 million girls are missing from India 's
population because the foetuses have been aborted
over the years. If we consider human rights, then
right to live is the most important human right. But
our girls have been denied this right. And it is very
unfortunate that well educated people, those hailing
from affluent families, are also going for female
foeticide," said Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre
for Social Research. About 10 million female foetuses
may have been aborted in the country over the past
two decades, according to research published recently
by a team of scientists who analysed female fertility
figures from a national survey of six million people
in the country. Despite laws banning such tests to
abort unborn girls, female foeticide is common in
several regions of the country where families view
boys as being a better asset than girls. Officials
say states like Rajasthan, Punjab , Haryana, Gujurat,
and Himachal Pradesh, and cities like Chandigarh have
heavily skewed sex ratios. In Rajasthan, there are
922 females to every 1,000 males, but officials say
in states like Punjab and Haryana, the sex ratio could
be as low as 500 or 600 females to 1,000 males.
The
condition is the most alarming in Punjab , which has
even shocked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He had
said few months back that it was a blot on the name
of the valiant and gallant people, adding that daughters
have contributed as much to the glory of Punjab as
the sons. The United Nations has also in its report
released earlier this year said that India 's female
ratio between 0-6 years age group has fallen to 896
females per 1,000 males, the lowest ever in a decade
for the world's second most populous nation. Reports
said that more than two million foetuses were killed
nationwide every year through abortion, simply for
being girls. The situation, the report said was further
worse in the states of Punjab , Haryana and Himachal
Pradesh, all relatively affluent. Sex determination,
though banned, is as simple as an ultrasound and can
easily be arranged in the thousands of tiny clinics
and nursing homes mushrooming across India , for as
less as 500 rupees. Besides Punjab and Haryana, Rajasthan
and Bihar , also have long history of female infanticide,
of girls poisoned, suffocated, drowned or left to
die.
-Dec
3, 2006
Previous
File
|
