Recently dozens of bags containing female baby bones were found in India.
India loses an average of 7,000 girls every day through abortions because of a traditional preference for sons, according to a Unicef report last year.
Abortions have resulted in a severely skewed gender ratio in India. There are only 927 females for every 1,000 males, far lower than the worldwide average of 1,050 females.
It is hard to believe such things happening in today's world.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19908747/
Last edited by ibay on Fri Sep 19, 2008 9:12 am; edited 1 time in total Quite amazing ... We don't learn that in school ... Though I support the preservation of cultural traditions, if it were up to me, I'd kill this tradition ...
wow
i didnt kno that
i head that there was a female president in India isnt there?
but why are theres still those dead bodies?
is this another genocide? usually in a place like India, where it is far and distant away from the wars between packistan and Iraq, it should be quite calm and people should have gotten nice to eachother. i dunoi y they are still fighting. and y are they killing women? maybe they are the "untouchables" 
we learned about that in school. its like those ppl who are despised adn hated by all ppl. mayb they did something wrong to anger the president or soemthing
anyway, i am really shocked that this happened
if anyone has any other news on this please let me know
thanks I am not shocked, baby girls have been murdered by the thousands in China, and India.
Yeah, not too shocking. Still sad, though.
I am not against abortion, but aborting your child simply because their gender isn't what you want seems to be crossing the line. As for those who kill their already-born babies because they come out female....those people are just twisted,
I've been hearing about females being frequently killed there even when they are grownups, what a sad thing!
| BvG_Loyalty wrote: |
| Quite amazing ... We don't learn that in school ... Though I support the preservation of cultural traditions, if it were up to me, I'd kill this tradition ... |
Its not amazing or Shocking...!
Its 100% fact that these mindless fathers and fahter's parents do.
I donot know why they are very fond of Boy babies?
One thing is - Dowry
Second one - Boys take care of parents. - But never seen
As the gals in India went to their mother-in-law's house after Marriage.
Any more facts not comments..!what? is that part of the population control thinggy? indian population is : 1,129,866,154 (July 2007 est.) next to china. hmm..
What is even more sad is that it's not just the older generations that are maintaining this gender bias... or custom as people call it. Even the educated people of the newer generations eventually develop this bias once they reach the age to have children and grand children. When in school or college they will talk against such atrocities as dowry deaths but when it is time for their own marriage they continue to ask for dowry. When young they will fight for gender equality but when getting a child they continue to want sons.
| Quote: |
| Quite amazing ... We don't learn that in school ... Though I support the preservation of cultural traditions, if it were up to me, I'd kill this tradition ... |
It's not a "cultural tradition". It's actually illegal, and severely frowned upon among the educated and semi-educated class. It's a practise that's been going for some time, unfortunately, due to dowry. I'll explain more later in this post.
| Quote: |
| is this another genocide? |
No way!
| Quote: |
| i dunoi y they are still fighting. |
Communal and religious tensions are bound to exist in a country like India which has a far more diverse cultural and religious populace than most other countries I know of.
| Quote: |
| what? is that part of the population control thinggy? |
No. Do you think that the government or society would allow the killing of infants/foetuses to control population, and the rest of the people would grin and bare it?
| Quote: |
| What is even more sad is that it's not just the older generations that are maintaining this gender bias... or custom as people call it. Even the educated people of the newer generations eventually develop this bias once they reach the age to have children and grand children. |
That (bias) may be true, but when was the last time you heard of an educated family actually ABORTING or KILLING an infant because it turned out to be a female?
NOW FOR THE REAL REASONS IT TAKES PLACE:
Dowry is a custom that is prevalent even today, despite there being plenty of laws against it, and the fact that a husband and his family can get arrested simply if a woman complains against dowry harassment by the groom's family (without much evidence). The practise is much more prevalent in rural areas or among the lower middle class or lower class families. For those who don't know what "dowry" is, it refers to a system in which the bride's family gives a lot of money/gifts to the married couple (effectively, the young groom).
Among the urban or populated class, this practise is certainly not as prevalent as it used to be. However, among the poor class, sons are preffered because they are expected to bring in a dowry. Girls, on the other hand, have to offer a dowry, and generally also pay for the marriage ceremony, as is the custom here.
It is due to this fact that girls are not preferred, and among the backward people, are generally aborted/abandoned/killed.
Secondly, the orthodox roles defined for male and female children is that generally, female children get married and go away to live with their husbands and their families. On the other hand, male children are supposed to continue living with their parents and take care of them in their old age.
The government, of course, is doing all it can to prevent this. Finding out the sex of the child before it is born has been banned, and any doctor found to be conducting sex-determination tests on pregnant women is liable to have his license to practise cancelled.
Some state governments have also set up orphanages where people can abandon young girl infants instead of killing them, even though the practise of abandoning female infants is frowned upon. While you may look upon this as an escape route for mothers wishing to abandon female infants, the result is quite contrary. It has not only helped saved many female infants' lives (the alternative would have been for the mother to either kill the child or abandon it in an unsafe place, where the child would have no chances of surviving), but also these centers have reported that many mothers have come back to claim their children after a certain duration of time passed. They reported that the decisions mothers took to abandon their female children is generally one that is impulsive, and one which they regret later, causing them to come back and claim their children.
Apart from this fact, some state governments have also announced financial assistance to families with female children. Not only is primary education completely free for females upto high school, but also they are generally provided with employment opportunities in vocational sectors.Does this news come as a surprise to me, NO it doesn't, but it surely saddens me. The real reasons for this happening has been mentioned by tidruG and I wont run through them again.
But I hope it changes as the government is doing so much to stop this and still such cases come up. We have by far the strictest laws regarding female infanticides, where the doctor loses his license to practice along with going to jail and monetary fines, also applicable to both the parents. In fact even finding the gender of your child is a criminal offense. Plus the amount of government advertising on this matter is next to anything.
I am also happy that this has come to light and helps spread awareness about it among the people.
I doubt if the governments in Pakistan and Bangladesh are also taking such similar proactive measure where the Female Infanticide is much worse than in India, as I wouldn't want any unborn child be killed because their parents didn't want a girl.
China and their official "one child" policy has long been worse -- but successful at stopping the population boom in China.
The parents of girls in India need to stop looking so hard for a husband, and understand that their daughters are valuable. Perhaps even asking for the parents of the groom to help with costs of the wedding? Customs usually change slowly -- where are the rich and famous Indian men who flout the custom and finance the wedding themselves?
The MSBN article says:
"The government says around 10 million girls have been killed by their parents -- either before or immediately after birth -- over the past 20 years."
But there is no note on the 927 girls per 1000 boys -- I had heard much worse numbers.
| Quote: |
| where are the rich and famous Indian men who flout the custom and finance the wedding themselves? |
Among the rich and famous, it's a bit like a show of status to be able to have a grand marriage for your daughter, and pay everything by yourself, I suppose.
Besides, after the marriage ceremony, most marriages also have a "reception", which is financed by the groom's family. The marriages are generally held in the day time, in temples/gurudwaras, and the reception is held at night... it's a bit more formal, and sometimes a lot more lavish.well what can i say...
i am shocked to see the numbers up there..
but india still has like 43 or 47 % of womens in india !!!
if you add these figures to it it'll be like 73% 
| theem wrote: |
well what can i say...
i am shocked to see the numbers up there..
but india still has like 43 or 47 % of womens in india !!!
if you add these figures to it it'll be like 73% |
What?
I'm sorry... what you've written about numbers up there is something that I didn't understand at all. Could you be a little more specific or clear, please?It makes no sense to kill one's baby just because of their gender. I couldn't care less about whether my child is male or female, the important thing is they are my child. It is sexist, and just plain wrong. Whether a child is male or female, they are still human beings, and have the rights of human beings. One of the most basic of these rights is the right to live. It is also agreed in many places that human beings are their own independent entities, not property to be sold off.
It's not all that surprising that it's happening in a third-world country such as India.
[sarcasm]Oh well, they don't have oil, I don't care[/sarcasm]
Are you being sarcastic about "third-world country"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_world_country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
| Quote: |
| The economy of India is the third largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). When measured in USD exchange-rate terms, it is the twelfth largest in the world, with a GDP of US $1.0 trillion (2007).[1] India is the second fastest growing major economy in the world, with a GDP growth rate of 9.4% for the fiscal year 2006–2007.[2] However, India's huge population results in a per capita income of $4,031 at PPP and $885 at nominal (2007 estimate).[3] The World Bank classifies India as a low-income economy.[4] [5] |
[url]The economy of India is the third largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). When measured in USD exchange-rate terms, it is the twelfth largest in the world, with a GDP of US $1.0 trillion (2007).[1] India is the second fastest growing major economy in the world, with a GDP growth rate of 9.4% for the fiscal year 2006–2007.[2] However, India's huge population results in a per capita income of $4,031 at PPP and $885 at nominal (2007 estimate).[3] The World Bank classifies India as a low-income economy.[4] [5][/url]
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This is a really short reply. I have no time to reply in detail as I would have liked.
