FEMALE INFANTICIDE AND FOETICIDE 

It is sad to see that in India, where various goddesses are worshipped, be it Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Kali and others, where girls are worshipped as Devi, in the same country female foeticide and infanticide is rampant too. It pains to see lives throttled in the womb or after birth just because that small bundle of life happens to be a girl,a bud that could have bloomed into a beautiful flower. Prenatal sex determination centres are also to be blamed along with the society who see a male child as a future bread earner or someone who will take the family name forward;whereas a female child is someone who will go to some other house, with huge dowries and is always seen 

as a huge burden. People opt for termination of pregnancy as soon as they come to know of a girl foetus or else when born the baby is sunk in water, fed with high doses of opium, left out in jungles or outside to be devoured by animals. It's pathetic to see girl children recovered from.  garbage dumps, roadsides,temples etc deserted by their owns. 

The dwindling of sex ratios in various regions is also a reason of this. When we have an Indira Gandhi,a Sarojoni Naidu,Kalpana Chawla,Indira Nooyi,Chanda Kochar,Kiran Mazumdar Shaw,Lata Mangeshkar,Amrita Pritam and so many others then why the apathy and aversion to a girl child? Why doesn't our society understand that it is a girl grown into a woman who takes the society and a family forward? If we do not stop this now then we will keep buying brides for our sons from outside as many areas in Haryana and Rajasthan now do because of hiked differences in the sex ratios due to prevalent female foeticide there.

My poem Oceans Apart takes a look at the girl foetus' point of view . The unborn baby questions her mother on throwing her away from her and not taking any stand to protect her, giving in to societal pressures. It is high time we women and girls recognise our own potential and value and stand against any societal pressure, atrocity. We need not succumb or give in to any cruelty and stop female infanticide and foeticide.  Every life has a right to flower into a beautiful human being , be that a male child or a female and it is our moral responsibility as aware women and mothers to let every life see the light of the day,flower beautifully and soar high to touch new zeniths. 

©Madhumita