Celebrate! Its a Girl!

For the first time the world is celebrating 'International Day of the Girl'. The aim is to promote girls, educate them and in general sensitise the society about their importance. Apart form this, the aim is also to talk of equity - giving equal status of girls and boys.

Unfortunately, in India the day is marked with a controversial backward statement by one of the politicians. The former Chief Minister of Haryana state Om Prakash Chautala said - "Parents should get their daughters married at the age of 15, if we want to check their molestation and rape".

So, according to this Indian politician, this is the easiest and simplest way to check crime against women.

The statement got support from a bunch of educated and elderly people on Facebook as well!

Chautala comes from a state where about a dozen cases of rape and serious molestation have been reported in just a month. 

Now here is  question for Mr Chautala and others like him...

What do they have to say about the following cases...

* A woman - mother of two children was raped in Haryana.

* A 14 year old girl was raped by a man for two years, in Delhi.

* A man was arrested in Karnataka for attempting to rape a 3 year old child.

What do these cases suggests?

They obviously suggest that violence against women - including molestation and rape, has nothing to do with a woman's age.

It has got everything to do with falling values in the society, discrimination from childhood days and increasing insensitivity in the society. Otherwise why would a rape take place every half an hour in this country (National Crime Record Bureau)!

In 2011, a Thomson Reuters Foundation Global Poll recorded India the fourth most dangerous nation in the world. The parameters were sex-selective abortions, human trafficking, sex slavery, forced marriages and so on. The poll had quoted a UN report, according to which, 50 million girls went missing in a century only because of sex selective abortions. Even Somalia did better than India as far as sex selective abortions are concerned which are rampant here.

The countries, which could beat India were like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In 2012, another study said India is the worst country for women among all the G20 nations.

Sample this -- (A travel advisory by the US government)

U.S. citizens, particularly women, are cautioned not to travel alone in India. Western women, especially those of African descent, continue to report incidents of verbal and physical harassment by groups of men. Known locally as “Eve-teasing,” these incidents can be quite frightening. Eve-teasing can occur anytime or anywhere, but most frequently has happened in crowded areas such as in market places, train stations, buses, and public streets. The harassment can range from sexually suggestive or lewd comments, to catcalls, to outright groping. While India is generally safe for foreign visitors, according to the latest figures by Indian authorities, rape is the fastest growing crime in India. Among large cities, Delhi experienced the highest number of crimes against women. Although most victims have been local residents, recent sexual attacks against female visitors in tourist areas underline the fact that foreign women are at risk and should exercise vigilance. Women should observe stringent security precautions, including avoiding use of public transport after dark without the company of known and trustworthy companions, restricting evening entertainment to well-known venues, and avoiding isolated areas when alone at any time of day. Keep your hotel room number confidential and make sure hotel room doors have chains, deadlocks, and spy-holes. In addition, only hire reliable cars and drivers and avoid travelling alone in hired taxis, especially at night. 

The above examples are self explanatory. We cannot blame outsiders for blaming our nation because deep inside our hearts we know that we are wrong.

The time has come to stop taming the girls and start training men and boys. Give them lessons on sensitivity and values and try changing and improving the society. All this is possible only when we start the practice from home by stopping discrimination. Treat boys and girls alike - give nutritious food to both and educate both. 

Just like your son, gather courage to give your daughter also the freedom to make her own decisions and decide when she wants to get married.

Toilet v/s Temples!

I call it reality bites or simply the sting of truth! 
Otherwise there is no reason why a fact-based statement should draw so much criticism!!!
The Indian Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Jairam Ramesh was candid and outspoken when he said "toilets are more necessary in India than temples".
As a nation we are known for using pavements as spittoons and garbage bins, roadsides as universal urinals and open fields as the ideal place for defecation.
Any corner in any public building is decorated with a spray painting - courtesy paan and gutkha chewers. The boundary walls of any building are permanently soaked - thanks to pedestrians who use them for emptying their bladders. Dumps of garbage anywhere on the road is a common site feasting pigs, cows, dogs and flies.     
This is because using a toilet for nature's call doesn't come as a natural phenomenon, especially when there is so much open space and no tort in place.    
People claim to lack space for toilets whereas religious structures are erected anywhere, irrespective. It can be on government land, public land or neighbour's land. 

  

The issue had been addressed by the Indian Apex Court on a Public Interest Litigation by a resident of Gujarat state, in 2009. The petitioner had submitted the data of 1,200 temple and 250 mosques, which were erected on unauthorised land. 
The court had directed the states to identify all religious structures constructed illegally and take appropriate action on case to case basis by either removing, relocating or regularising them.
The state of Uttar Pradesh too had identified more than 45,000 religious structures. 
Ironically, Uttar Pradesh is also the state that records as one of the lowest as far as toilet are concerned. Only 22 per cent of people use toilets here, which is a little better than states like Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh where the percentage is as low as 20, 18 and 13, respectively. 

Now going back to the statement of Jairam Ramesh - what could have been  disputed is why segregate temples? The argument can be - he could have said "Construction of toilets is more important than construction of religious places."
However at the same time, if we think rationally, there are two basic points behind his statement - 
One - Temples outnumber any other religious place in India. So, it was  spontaneous.  
Two - There is an urgent need for toilets as the nation is losing its manpower and money due to lack of sanitation facilities.

Now a glimpse of sanitation status in India -
* India loses approximately USD 53.8 billion (More than 6.4% of India’s GDP) due to increased health costs, productivity losses, and reduced tourism revenue due to inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene (Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank, February 2011)

* 626 million Indians defecate in the open, making India the country with most people living without toilets in the world. (UNICEF/WHO).

*  More than 1,000 children die from preventable diarrhoea every day (UNICEF; India Water Portal).

* There are more mobile phones than toilets in India (2011 India Census). According to the Indian Telecom Regulatory Authority, there are currently more than 929 million mobile phone subscribers in the country. More than 300 million Indians have access to a mobile phone, but not to a toilet. 

* According to Public Health Association and UNICEF, only 53 per cent of the Indian population washes hands with soap after defecation, 38 per cent wash hands with soap before eating and only 30 per cent wash hands with soap before preparing food.

* Only 11 per cent of the Indian rural families dispose children's stool safely whereas 80 per cent leave it in the open and rest throw it in the garbage (UNICEF).

* Women suffer from reproductive tract infections and urinary tract infection caused by poor hygiene (Facts for Life).

* Women often use isolated places for defecation, making them vulnerable to getting molested or raped.

* About 23% of Indian girls drop out of school after reaching puberty because they do not get toilet facility in schools. (National survey conducted by AC Nielsen and NGO Plan India, 2012).

Now looking at these statistics can we say what Jairam is saying is wrong?

In my view no!

Consider this - Over 40 percent of children can be saved from diarrhoeal diseases if focus is shifted to sanitation and hygiene. Millions of women can be given dignity and self respect if they are provided with the privacy of toilets. Many girl students can be brought back to schools if there is facility of toilets. Hundreds of man-hour can be saved just by following proper sanitation and hygiene practices.

In that case why not have build toilets rather than building yet another religious structure and creating more differences among people!!!