I have a nearly eleven year old daughter. When I think about her, all I can think are what toys I can afford or what books to buy or what are her strengths or her school. All my efforts are focused on keeping her healthy and happy. I DO NOT think about her getting married. I am a Hindu and traditionalist but I am also educated and forward looking. My religion and culture afford me the luxury of questioning the wrong and the incorrect. So when I see people marrying or their almost adolescent daughters, it chafes me to no ends. No one can justify child marriages. If it is tradition then it is wrong. Just because a man is a girl’s father, it does not give him the right to ruin her life based on some perceived male superiority. Ours is not a traditional patriarchal society. At least not in the way Islamic world is. On one hand we abuse women in every possible way and then we worship various devis. This dichotomy is baffling and needs to be addressed.
Indian girls have matched the successes of boys every step of the way. In a lot of cases they have well exceeded them. So why do we still cling on to traditions which demean and humiliate girls? I don’t think there is a simple answer to this. Boys do not have any interest in correcting this. Men with daughters do but somehow, instead of fighting the system, they seem to be succumbing to it which is a damned shame. So who should pick up this fight? Of course the girls. They really do need to stand up for their share in India’s future. It is their interest and it is in India’s interest. One of the factors common to all third world countries is the status of women in those countries. Half of our population cannot be held back and denied the fulfillment of their potential.
It is in this spirit that I want to talk about this young Rajasthani girl Sapna Meena. Instead of getting married, she wanted to get more education and get a job. In any other country, this would be a normal dream. However in the world of chauvinistic Indian men, she may as well have been asking for the moon. God bless this girl, she stood up elders in the family. When she could not get the help she so deserved, she went to the authorities. Amazingly, the sarkari babus stood up for her and her wedding was put off. She was awarded a certificate of gallantry by the government for being an "agent of change" in her community. Good for her!! It will be Indians like her who will carry the country to the next level.
What is the responsibility of others? The men should listen to the aspirations of their daughters and recognize their potential. The establishment should enforce the anti child marriage laws as they do other laws. They should also stand up for girls like Sapna. Instead of peddling their usual sleaze, the Indian media should tom-tom Sapna’s case and others like that. India deserves to hear stories like this.
The complete story can be read at: http://news.yahoo.com/india-schoolgirl-defies-tradition-reject-child-083022998.html
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