Agle janam mohe bitiya hi kijo

Hi Friends, I'm so moved by an article I read today written by noted journalist Mrinal Pande that I thought of sharing it with you all. It is about the plight of the girl child and related child marriages in Rajasthan. We all are mesmerized by the colors and touch of royalty in Rajasthan - the grandness, the aura that surrounds the land of the Royals; but there is also a grim side to all the glam.

Excerpts from the article:

In Tonk, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Ajmer and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan, inexpensive mass marriages of children are held each year on Akha Teej (Akshay Tritiya), a Hindu festival. Ask the local policemen why they do not intercept these illegal marriages, and they’ll tell you sheepishly that in the lives of the poor, a daughter’s marriage is a most holy moment. On Akha Teej, hundreds can perform their god-given “duty” at a minuscule cost. It’d be sinful to intercept matches that are made in heaven and celebrated on earth. “After all, we too have children,” a few of them will add.

So strong is this bias that when a village saathin, a Dalit potter’s wife named Bhanwari Devi, tried to prevent child marriages in her village, she was brutally raped by upper caste men as punishment. Later, when the matter was taken up by urban women and a case registered after much stalling and came up for hearing, ministers in the Rajasthan government bad-mouthed the urban do-gooders who, they said, had no idea what custom meant.

Can a girl child in Rajasthan still say 'Agle janam mohe bitiya hi ki jo'. Share your thoughts.

Happy Posting!
Sonia

Hi Sonia, Its really touching to read this. All I can say at the moment for being one lucky 'girl child' born in Rajasthan is 'Agle janam mohe bitiya hi kijo'. But, its is true, female foeticide, child marriages, dowry deaths, etc are still prevalent in remote areas of Rajasthan.

Social activists and media agencies are trying hard to curb the menace and I'd like to share with you posters developed by World Comics. Here is one related to child marriage that is pasted in the village walls of Rajasthan and if reports are to be believed, the response is quite positive.

What a sad thing. We are progressing and landing on moon in one corner of the world and being down right brutal to kids in another part.

What a sad thought...but I'd like to say kudos to you Sonia for writing so strongly yet beautifully on this very sensitive issue. Meera your poster speaks the thought level of the people it is targeting. I understand...it is meant for the poor and the uneducated people living in remote villages.

But..................

Are our cities and so called 'shik**** samaaj' in the metros given up on those age old vices? It is still seen even amongst affluent classes where mithaiya is distributed on the birth of a son (read scion)...a daughter's birth goes uncelebrated. kolli43, you are absolutely right...our society always maintains a double standard on this issue.

We have been debating this issue for years now....we say things have changed.... but how much??

Thanks Krishna. Very strong statements yet very true. The fact is that it is very difficult to enact a law and stop this kind of social vices like child marriage. But...the remote villages of Rajasthan and similar other places are far away from the reality of modern day and the implications child marriages.

According to the medical journal, The Lancet, at least 44% of Indian girls and boys are still married off before they reach the legally stipulated minimum age of 18 and 21 years, respectively, and most become parents soon after.Such couples are less likely than their older counterparts to have access to contraception and due to repeated and poorly spaced pregnancies, the young mothers are far more likely to have complications during and after childbirth .

Child marriages in India is a crippling medical and social burden; and that too despite an age-old law banning child marriage.

Wow, 44% marry before the legal stipulated age? Socio economic progress , education and media awareness is the only answer.

A few decades ago it was fairly common almost all over India for girls to be married off before the legal age (in my grandmothers generation). Now I do not hear of such cases in the educated middle class. Hopefully the opportunities for women will continue to improve.

These things are prevalent everywhere. Even in my family (I am from Srinagar) 15-16 year old girls are being married off. They are not even allowed to complete their schooling which is so unfair. I have one cousin who got married last year and she hates her new home. They don't let her do anything she wants, make her wear burqa all the time and have ordered her to not to step out of the house alone.

I mean what are they? Taliban??? But she can't do anything as they are her in-laws.

Thankfully, my parents are not that stupid. They want me to study and go to college. I feel so lucky.

Getting married at 15 years of age?? Oh my God! I can't even imagine what it might be like. You know, sometimes I really thank God that I was born in an educated and modern family. My parents never treated my like a burden. They completely supported me in whatever I wanted to do.

They have never pressured me to get married as they know that I will only marry a guy I love. I can't even imagine bringing the tray in front of "rishtey wallahs". Even the thought scares me half to death.

I am so blessed. I wish every girl in the world finds parents like me.

Child marriage is a curse that should be faught with all the strength. It is so disgusting to think that in a country that's trying to become a super power, girls are still sold and bought like cattle. Sometimes, in the name of dowry, society or religion, people sacrifice their daughter's whole life.

Such parents should be hanged.

Originally Posted by kk2009

Child marriage is a curse that should be faught with all the strength. It is so disgusting to think that in a country that's trying to become a super power, girls are still sold and bought like cattle. Sometimes, in the name of dowry, society or religion, people sacrifice their daughter's whole life.

Such parents should be hanged.

And more disgusting is to think that the parents, mainly the mother must have faced the same ordeal of 'n' number of miscarriages and pregnancies at a tender age.

Kya unko yaad nehi apna haal ya....chup rehena unki majboori hai?