Emotions drained me from top to bottom when I heard the case of Dowry death in Dehradun, giving me Goosebumps of to what extent is a girl is exposed to the brutalities of the society.
Marriage once looked upon as a beautiful lifelong commitment has turned into a brutal business. It has lost its meaning in the inhuman race for money. Kalyug has reached its zenith of savagery & brutality! Dowry menace has crippled our society, stained the mindset of people to an extent that it’s a curse to humanity.
A woman dies every hour in India due to the demands placed upon her family as a result of the dowry system, according to figures from the country's National Crime Records Bureau.
Tragic Story of a distant relative Lakwinder Kaur (Sonia Kaur) who was burnt alive when her parents couldn’t meet the dowry demands of her in law family. The incident took place at Dehradun.
She tied knots to beautiful commitment on 7th July 2014 with Gurmeet Singh, stepping ahead in a new phase of life, not being aware of what a horrifying end that relationship will scare her with. This beginning gradually became the most torturing nightmare of her life. Her husband was the owner of a car rental business in Haridwar.
She was shunned, abused and tortured for dowry for Rs 6 lakhs from past few months when she expressed her denial to pay the amount her in-laws demanded.
Adding to her grave situation, she was abandoned with hunger pangs for many days, she was exposed to every extreme form of brutalities from being physically tortured to emotionally exhaust.
The Couple decided to move to Dehradun for some time followed with her in-laws. On 13th April 2015 when the situation crossed every limit. She went to police station went to lodge a complaint on 13 April 2015 Dehradun, Patel Nagar. Police paid no heed to her miseries and refused to lodge the complaint due to her husband’s high influential power.
Gurmeet Singh's Family and relatives exhorted to the most brutal attempt of setting her on FIRE, the girl died a miserable death as 99% body was burnt.
Accused is not arrested yet. No action has been taken yet apart from Registering FIR. Accused are freely roaming.
None of the following is a factor in India’s female genocide: economics, education, class, caste, religion, and community. It involves the educated and wealthy, as well as the poor and uneducated. The skewed sex ratio adverse to the female child is a sad mirror image of the social thinking even in the 21st Century.
Every son born into a family is greedily viewed as the ‘golden goose’ who will bring in the fantasized wealth through the dowry they will demand when he gets married. The worst cases of dowry death reflect the degree of that greed. The practice of easy wealth acquisition is engulfing the society having its worst victims as females!
As of yet the system of law and order in India has shown little inclination towards bringing this situation under control. It is riddled with corruption and incompetence, and many in the government offices, police and medical establishment themselves indulge in dowry and female foeticide. The possibility for change through the official channels therefore is bleak.
Are we ashamed enough?
Dowry is an age old custom where the wife's family has to hand over endless amounts in cash and gifts at the wedding and beyond to secure her wellbeing.
It is illegal and the punishments are severe, but the number of cases is on the rise in a country that continues to grapple with the issue of violence against women. The system has far-reaching effects on Indian society. It is the primary reason for female feticide and infanticide. Activists estimate 500,000 female fetuses are aborted illegally every year. For many families it is the boy who brings in the riches while a girl continuously depletes it.
We as human beings belong to a social group at birth and our development and growth is influenced largely by that groups' philosophy. Being a Sikh woman by birth I have seen women being glorified as goddesses as well as downgraded. My soul was in a search for an explanation, and recently I have turned to the Sikh Scriptures (Sri Guru Granth Sahib) for an answer.
And the answers says
Guru Nanak writes.
"From the woman is our birth, in the woman's womb are we shaped;
To the woman we are engaged, to the woman we are wedded;
The woman is our friend and from woman is the family;
Through the woman are the bonds of the world;
Why call woman evil who gives birth to the leaders of the World?
From the woman is the woman, without woman there is none".
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 473)
The Guru reprimands those who consider women as inferior to men. He sees them as active partners in advancing goodwill, general happiness and the collective moral values of society. This declaration definitively requires women to be placed in high esteem.
Sikhism condemns prevalence of female Infanticide and the ritual of dowry in Indian society.
"O' my Father! give me the Name of Lord God as a gift and dowry.
Let the Lord be my wear, His Glory my Beauty, that my Task be accomplished.
Blessed is the Lord's worship; the True Guru has blessed me with it.
In all lands, nay, in all Universe Pervades the Glory of the Lord; the gift of the Lord's (Name) is matchless;
All other Dowry displayed by the self-willed is false egoism and a vain show."
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 78/79).
The Guru's called this giving of gifts an "offer for show" of the guests and a "worthless display" which only increase the "false egotism".
Where have we failed, as parents, teachers and leaders, that our children have forgotten all tenets of decent behavior and respect for women?
Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
The country's future will remain both visible and elusive "if we do not discover the ability to continually cleanse ourselves of retrograde habits and social ills.
As the worthy children of our Gurus, we must pledge to place Women elevated on the same standards of thinking as propagated by our gurus.
It’s time to drill our society with some sensitivity of acknowledging themselves as humans!
