Saving the Female Fetus

DM,

An excellent article. The historical context and all the other details about this problem is very educational to me.

You have listed out the different ways we should solve the problem. I agree with all of those. Apart from the legal measures, a big reason why we have historically put an undue significance on a boy-child is due to the earning power. Making the girl as valuable as a boy on this dimension (through reservations in education institutions, Jobs, Special Financial incentives to start business etc.) can also help mitigate this problem

Thanks,
Avkrishna

Correction:

``One of the features of the earlier female infanticide by the British administrators was its high correlation with caste, with the incidence of infanticide much higher for some castes than others.``

should read:

One of the features of the earlier female infanticide noted by the British administrators was its high correlation with caste, with the incidence of infanticide much higher for some castes than others.

DM,

Thanks for an excellant article AND many more thanks for dragging neither Ummah nor Islam into it like Bibi jawahara on the other board, and calling it as it is indeed, a socio-economic problem.

The misery of human condition is so vast that if one would even think of starting to address it, you wouldn`t know where to begin. Social ills are an obvious outcome of undelying causes such as the dowry custom in this case as you pointed out. And why the dowry? It is a premium the bride`s family has to pay because a good groom is hard to come by. And why is that? Because the grooms have to be sole-providers and the bride is supposed to live happily ever after without having to contribute anything economically in the union after that initial `premium` paid. And it goes on and on.

The point is, it is impossible to rid social evils by attacking these `directly`. Outlawing and banning these seldom works because incentives for the same remain. The answer lies in overall rural uplift, economic prosperity and, most importantly, education.

Rgds

Before this gets into a Pakistan-India show down... allow me to say a great article ... and I hope this issue is brought to forefront and those perpetrators brought to justice.

Re: # 3 zee
[....Because the grooms have to be sole-providers and the bride is supposed to live happily ever after without having to contribute anything economically in the union after that initial `premium` paid...]

Not true for lower-middle-class and rural communities.... women there do a lot of back breaking work - often more than the ``sole-providers``....their contribution to ``union`` is immense - but is less in terms of cash and hence is utterly under-appreciated.....

What you say could be true for middle/upper-middle-class communities - may be that ``explains`` why female foeticide is much more prevalent in these communities...

and these people already have some education, a level of economic well-being - and yet still go out and do the foeticide.... so the education may not be the issue here - it`s a mindset - a despicable backward stupdity that seem to afflict the people living nortwest corner of India...and parts of tamilnad from what I hear.....

It needs an all out social awareness campaign and the big stick of the law.... never under-estimate the power of danda to cure stupidty of these kind.... :)))

Dost-Mittarji.

Think of it as yet another method of population control. I don`t mean female infanticide, I mean the inability to find a mate and reproduce.

with this rate of the hi tech physician assisted female culling soon India will have to go back to Pandavas Polyandry......with added benefit of the reverse multiple dowries...!

very substentative piece DM ji.....

#5 by mohar11

Very interesting observation, Mohar.

Then why do the middle/upper class do it? You said ``mindset``, but where did that mindset arise and why?

it`s time to commit Infanticide on the Infantile `doctors` like Kartar Singhs and Anil Sabhanis of India......themselves.

-- where is that goddam female-cidal Indian Medical Association -- is this the way they self-regulate themselves...

SHAME on IMA.....it definitely needs culling of their own Bad Gendered roost...

nasah:

I completely agree with you on the IMA....like probably most professional organizatiosn in India, the IMA can barely look beyond its and its members extremely narrow self-interest....there is not even a remote awareness of anything called the larger public good...i remember in the mid-1990s when the govt. tried to include physicians within the Consumer Protection Act- that would have made it easier to hold govt. hospital physicians accountable for malpractice towards the generally poor patients (and god knows that is needed)- the IMA raised such a huge hue and cry, and came up with such creative and patently dishonest arguments, that as a medical student even i could see the absolute dishonesty of their position and total absence of any regard for public good....the CPA itself had several clauses that would have disallowed petty lawsuits, but the IMA representing what is an elite group of people against a largley disorganized and unaware group`s interests, not surprisingly got its way

``The society prepares the crime, the criminal commits it.``

What should one expect where the customs, reet o rivaaj, has devalued the females so much.....where most females are humilliated.........change is slow........where the sick minds have labelled women as burden......where daughters` safety is every parents` nightmare......This sentiment is not peculiar to illiterate or rural.....Educated, liberal, and forward thinking parents prefer boys......The society behind curtains demand dowries......

The culture and environment has to change.......before the mindset will change......

This doesn`t happen in E Pb.....circumstances can make it happen anywhere.

I`ve read news where in Pakisatan, a brother killed all her sisters, because they were going to be exploited by feudals and landlords.....

I find it quite bizzare that Pakistanis generally hardly show any interest in Hindu specific issues, whereas, vice versa is not true. I know that 95% hindus are mentally derainged, inherently indecent, lack general ettiquettes and come on this website only to express their acute hatered for Pakistan, Islam and Muslims but why reverse is not true.

A scroll down on the front page will prove the point.

Thanks Dost sahib.

This practice is so disgusting. Seems like values have gone down the drain. our peole are committing a giant hara-kiri.

Dost mittar Sahib jii

This article is really a big JOLT on the face of ignorant societies which favored or have been favoring female infanticide based on their patriarchal steel chains. In India this practice has had been increasing for not having a daughter for not giving the dowry and this curse is progressively worsening since Y-chromosomes methods to determine SEX of the fetus have been invented.

Medical ethics clearly states to save lives regardless of status. Sadly, ethics is not being applied. This un ethical practice is being encouraged by medical personals.

What is the root cause of female infanticide? We have to eliminate that first, if we are really sincere in addressing this curse. Obviously, root cause is economic problems along with some social stigmas attached to it. Starting from dowry, jewelry, expenses of marriages (and India is a marriage obsessed society) and not only that bringing up a female means putting a whole lot of extra burden on parents shoulders,b/c unmarried girls don`t have equal opportunities to work out side their homes to help their parents. Work environment is not safe for them and not only that they are not safe at homes either. So, the only choice the poor parents are left with is to kill them before they arrive in this GENDER biased society. Parents are unable to brush off their cruel customs b/c they are weak, rather they find an easy way out to brush off their female infants. This is a smart short cut for them to free themselves of all these societal chains which put them under lots of strains.

Now, will this ever stop with speeches and big sermons. No, never. The only way to stop this is to help build a better economic system to help them jobs, to re educate them, to set a system where they can have self employment`s with strong social support.

Gender discrimination comes under the act of violence , female infanticide and selection of sex by sex probes (Y-chromosomes) methods is the extreme form of violence.

This practice is not unique to India, it has been practiced globally. Pre Islam ancient Arabs were quite notorious about this brutal custom of burying their female babies alive. Islam abolished this practice and restored women rights and women started enjoying their full freedom and made all the reforms regarding equal women rights. Islam revolutionized the women status equal to men and also gave all women legal security globally, promoted gender equality, morally, spiritually, intellectually, socially and politically. There are absolutely NO literal or misinterpretative limitations in Quran in defining the woman`s rights.

on side note:-We need antibiotics to eliminate the bacteria, not just sermons.
Thank you

Dost ji very good article..very educational and exposes the issue in a larger context of society and history of the region. I will post some encdotes from my own life related to the subject later.

#11 Kauray, bharawaa pehlaN apna sir bahir kadd chiTRaN choN.....thank you! this happens in East Punjab...has been happening every single day for decades...ankhaN kholo paahji. as article mentions about Bedis, there are many segments of Punjabi society strongly believe in having a son no matter what.....killing the girl foetus is only a small sacrifice to be made to fullfill that wish.