The Hindu : National : Religious leaders join hands against female foeticide

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Wednesday, Nov 09, 2005

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Religious leaders join hands against female foeticide

Gargi Parsai

They express concern at the declining birth ratio of the girl child

NEW DELHI: In Gujarat, "Jai Srikrishna" is a common greeting. Recently, unscrupulous medical practitioners adopted it as a code. After sonography of a pregnant woman, if they find that the foetus is male, they greet the family members with "Jai Srikrishna." But if it is female, they say, "Jai Mata ki. Puja karo," which means "kill the [female] foetus."

The audience at a gathering here was horror-struck when it heard this. The audience consisted of revered saints, swamis, imams and jathedars, brought together by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living and Ved Vigyan Maha Vidya Peeth, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund in a campaign against female foeticide.

There was a hush in the auditorium as Swami Nikhileswarananda of the Ramakrishna Mission, Vadodara, Gujarat, recounted his experiences with his disciples. He spoke of a woman who threw to death her fourth baby girl from the seventh floor. Asked how could she be so cruel as to kill her newborn daughter, she said: "I am being kind. I get thrown around several times. I don't want my girl to go through the same fate."

"This is the situation of women in our country, which we need to change through [a] change in mindset and empowerment of women," he said.

The gurus and religious preachers — be it Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or Alahaj Syed Kiberia of Dargah Ajmer Sharif or the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Joginder Singh, or the head of the Pejawar Math in Udupi, Vishvesha Teertha Swami, or the Brahmakumaris — and others, including the Christian Medical Association, were unanimous in expressing their "grave concern" at the declining birth ratio of the girl child. Twenty five million missing girls was a shocking figure, they said, in a country where the Vedas said that "God resides where women are revered."

But there were challenges from the enlightened audience, which included NGOs and activists besides disciples, to this spiritual thought. Many young women wanted women to be looked upon as women, not mothers. Questions were raised on the distinction between female foeticide and abortion. Questions were also raised on the strong son preference arising from the socio-economic conditions (dowry) and religious beliefs in the performance of last rites by men.

The religious leaders decided to undertake "padyatras" to enlighten people on the need for a change in the mindset on the girl-child. More than 20 of them signed a pledge for this.

"Female foeticide is a crime against the whole society. The ahimsa tatva has to be brought back in society," said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Lauding his efforts to bring together leaders of all faiths, Syed Kibria of Ajmer Sharif told The Hindu that "it was a good beginning." The Jathedar of the Akal Takht said that in 2001, the Takht had issued a `hukumnama' (advisory) against female foeticide and was closely monitoring it.

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