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Even before they are born, the odds are stacked against women. In India and parts of Nepal there are parents who willingly abort female fetuses. Sex-selective abortion is illegal in India, yet every year the country loses thousands of its daughters. It is not only Hindus that are guilty of this practice, but because it is our culture to worship women and because we make up the majority of the population in both India and Nepal, we have the greater responsibility.
According to an article published by Christian Science Monitor in 2006, a survey conducted by Prabhat Jha of St. Michael's Hospital at the University of Toronto and Rajesh Kumar of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh, India, about one out of every 25 female fetuses is aborted every year in India. As for Nepal, no concrete data or study is available on female feticide, yet it is safe to conclude that the country too is losing hundreds of its daughters to this inhumane practice.
Female infanticide is also practiced in these two countries. A family rejoices when a son is born, but when the “misfortune” of a daughter befalls them, there are parents who commit infanticide. Cruelly they murder their infant daughter, giving her poison or stuffing a cloth or a rock in her tiny throat or keeping her out in the cold long enough to die from exposure.
Escaping feticide and infanticide, a girl lucky and brave enough to survive is faced with a lifelong struggle. She must fight against all kinds of prejudice, including discrimination in the workplace, school and home, biased laws, and rising crime against women. And yet every year we so faithfully worship Durga, Laxmi and Saraswati, turning a blind eye to the women around us who are far away from being worshipped. They are being punished just for being women.
Who is to blame for the injustice of female feticide, infanticide and dowry murders? Is it the government, society or our culture?
The Indian government has passed laws against sex-selective abortion, infanticide and dowry murders, but it doesn’t take a PhD to figure out that they are not working. People are sneaking behind the law’s back and girls are disappearing. The article in Christian Science Monitor mentioned earlier says that the problem of feticide is “deepest among the educated,” so the policymakers and leaders can get off their high horses and stop blaming the poor and uneducated for their lack of understanding.
It is clear that more families are getting rid of girls not because they are ignorant or because of financial issues, it is because in spite of their education they still don’t consider a daughter as worthy as a son. In other words, the education system has failed to make the people understand that men and women are equal. No matter how tough the laws are, unless the education system is overhauled to enlighten the people – rather than just creating doctors, engineers, lawyers and managers – the problem is not going to be solved.
About the Nepali legal system, on this issue, the less said is more. The country is so embroiled in political struggle that the lawmakers have had hardly any time to look around and understand the problems facing the country. The Supreme Court is doing what the leaders should be doing by issuing rulings to protect women and girls, but it can go only so far. In the meantime, the country continues to lose hundreds of its daughters.
Governments in both India and Nepal have failed to protect girls, it is clear. It is also clear that society’s negligence has added to the problem. Where are the civil society and religious leaders in these countries? Why has it taken them so long to take up this issue and launch a campaign to end it? Are they too busy playing politics and looking after their personal interests?
Speaking of religious leaders, over the years we have seen Hindu religious figures cry out against tribal people being converted to Christianity and complain that the Hindu nature of Nepal and India are under attack, but we have never seen them take a stand against the practice of killing baby girls. I wonder why? Is it because crying out against “Christian attacks” gets more press than speaking out against baby killers?
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(Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance reporter. Her articles have been published at OhMyNews, NepalNews, Toward Freedom, Telegraph Nepal, Himal South Asian and ACM Ubiquity. She is also a regular contributor to News Front Weekly, in Kathmandu, and Nepal Abroad, in Washington D.C. She can be reached at bhumika_g@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Bhumika Ghimire.)
