The International Day of the Girl Child (October 11) focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights. Our Indian society is still largely male dominated, and women are often looked down upon. A home is no home which does not have a daughter. It is only because of our mothers that we live today. Inequality about the girl child is a vast problem which includes many areas like inequality in education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, protection, honour, child marriage and so on. India loses an average of 7,000 girls every day through abortions because of a traditional preference for sons. Abortions have also resulted in a severely skewed gender ratio in India, where there are only 927 females for every 1,000 males — far lower than the worldwide average of 1,050 females. In our country, female literacy rate is still 53.87% and one third of the youngster girls are malnourished. Our Constitution entitles women to equal opportunities and rights, but in some parts of the land the rate of female foeticide is high and the gender ratio terribly skewed. Girls are not being sent to school in many places and women face prejudice and discrimination at the workplace.
We Indians call our nation Mother India and are great devotees of Mother Goddess in various manifestations. But is this devotion and respect for the country limited to only a few words or do we actually implement these values? No, we all are openly playing a double standard game with our country. One way we say Mother India and the other way we are continuously destroying the valuable gift of nature, a girl child.
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Latest inventions in the medical field of gender detection have allowed the rate of female foeticide to increase in India. Still there are mothers who desire to have an abortion if the ultrasound test detects a girl child. But wait a moment…what can you see in the ultrasound test? Ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes, innocent face, ready to come out and feel the beauty of nature and love of mother. When you close your eyes and you will hear a sweet voice from within saying ‘Mamma’, will you still abort your unborn girl child? No, you can’t be so cruel, at least not to someone who is a part of you.
Becoming a mother is the greatest gift of God. Treasure this gift whether you have a baby boy or baby girl. Boys and girls are like two hands of the human body. In the absence of the one the other is incomplete. This is the time to take an initiative to apply brakes on the undesirable practice of girl discrimination. Girls must enjoy the right to birth, right to freedom, and right to education. Girls are biologically stronger than boys and must receive adequate nutrition, health care facilities and education. They must be given opportunities to explore themselves and prove their capabilities. As mothers, they are responsible for imparting values, cultural beliefs and manners in their children. Hence, they must be educated spiritually, emotionally and intellectually.
Women are the backbone of society to bring in strength, harmony, cooperation, humanity and eventually transforming the society into a compassionate and peaceful place to live in. The sex ratio imbalance is a serious issue and finding a solution has to start with making the girl child valuable.
