Monday, August 14, 2006

who wants a girl?

A couple of days ago, more than 50 female foetuses were found outside a hospital in Punjab.

People have different reasons for doing away with unborn babies - a career, money, because they already have enough children, or whatever. Abortion is legal in India, so how can one question the motives of why a couple chooses to abort a baby?

Even if these parents who chose to do away with unwanted girls had been forced to have the baby girls, they would have made the girls' lives miserable. The girl child would grow up cursed everyday for being a burden, neglected, malnourished, poorly educated and married off to the first available male. After that, she would most likely be harrassed for dowry and burnt. Better that she was killed by her parents before birth rather than her life increasing suffering on this earth.

But perhaps, one of the girls would have turned out to be a rebel and changed the society she lived on it on its head, and improved the lot for all other girls like her? Who knows? I've often looked at families and said to myself, "I hope no girl is born in this family."

Girls should be born only into families that deserve them, that will appreciate the gift they have been given through a girl child.

No law can work to protect the girl child, or the female foetus as long as parents don't want girl children. Laws cannot be imposed from the outside, but have to come from within the requirements of our society, and our society doesn't need more women. So be it.

1 comment:

Space Bar said...

batul, this is an uncharacteristically despairing post. i don't at all agree with the 'so be it' part of it. but i do agree that any change has to come from within--whether of the individual or of a smaller section of any society. i hope that each one of us has the will to stand up to and speak out for what is right whenever we can.

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