India loses 7,000 females a day [Archives:2007/1021/Opinion]
Fariouq Luqman
The development of means determining the sex of en embryo in its fourth month has caused a great disaster to the people of India as well as the people of Korea and China and to some extent in Thailand, Africa and some Arab countries. Nevertheless the people here do not like to announce about that very frankly.
The problem started China because a law in China does not allow the birth of more than one child with an aim of limiting the population. If a father discovers that his wife is pregnant with a female he sometimes wants an abortion in the hope that she will become pregnant with a male the next time. All that happens secretly.
According to the Chinese and Indian mentality, as was and is still the case in the Arab mentality, a male is preferable to a female for many reasons. It has become a dangerous phenomenon in India in particular and the Indian sub-continent, including Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
Studies by UNICEF revealed that the existing proportion or rate between males and females is leading to India's loss of around 7,000 females a day so that the present rate has reached to 882 females against 1,000 males, while it was expected to be 954 against one thousand. This rate means the loss of 1.5 million females every year.
This new form of eliminating girls happens after discovering the gender of the embryo with equipment of determining it with pictures and ultrasound, which is the easiest of matters despite Indian and Chinese law prohibiting this means of discovery.
The important thing for that family is the final result -the birth of a male. The father cannot know that the female could have become more useful, smarter, and greater than his little boy. Therefore the number of females to males in India reduced but 31,000 of them will be born instead of 38,000 because of this new scientific killing instead of the premeditated killing that Islam has prohibited.
A farmer or worker believes that a young male will be more helpful in a country that is still considered among the poor countries and that the daughter may become a burden on him because the father has to pay a high dowry or a man to marry her. An Indian will pay a dowry to his daughter's bridegroom ranging between a house to car or cash or furniture according his capability. He also must buy her pure gold to carry with her to the house of her husband. Muslims in India and its neighboring countries have also have that custom although the Muslim bridegroom has to pay a dowry to the bride, but spread of Hindu customs imposed on Indian Muslims has made many adapt their customs and often remain unmarried. This change can lead to suicide. All this happens while the law in China and India prohibits payment of dowries and prohibits suicide.
Nonetheless we hear that in the Indian Parliament there are reports on burning bridegrooms whose fathers delayed in paying the final installments of their dowries. Bridegrooms are killed by pouring kerosene on them outside of their house and burning them alive. The incident will be recorded as a tragic accident or suicide attempt. Not one day almost passes newspapers reporting these incidents in India.
The reduction of the number of females has led the young men to stop demanding dowries from girls. Also study at university and school and work for companies led to marriage without conditions and after marriage the couple will share the bearing of the costs of life. This is one phenomenon. The other one is the girl's refusal to get married according to the previous method and to depend on her income and wait for a suitable groom at the proper time.
That has resulted in a positive development. The man no longer occupies a relatively more prominent position able to demand a high dowry as it was in the past. That means that the police officer has a special dowry and so on for a diplomat or doctor.
Source Al-Ayah newspaper
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[archive-e:1021-v:14-y:2007-d:2007-02-01-p:opinion]
