Ludhiana, September 12
Giving an impetus to “Santulan”, a campaign initiated by the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) against sex-selective abortions, senior citizens of Ludhiana took a pledge to save the birth of girl child on the Grandparents Day today.
It was a step taken for the social cause wherein the sexagenarian and septuagenarian couples from across the district expressed their enthusiasm to spread the message in the society.
Bhagat Ram Handa and his wife Shashi Handa feel that girls are an anchor of the society who step into the role of a sister soon after the birth and then go on to give meaning to the relations referred to as “bua, mami, chachi, massi, bhabi and so on”.
“These relationships are the basis of the close-knitted Indian families and a person opting for sex selective abortion is not just guilty of ending an unborn life, but is also responsible for depriving a family of all these relations,” feels Bhagat Ram.
Highlighting the growing disparity in the sex-ratio, another elderly, Sadhvi Harimitra Bharti, said it was not only in the case of numbers of boys and girls that the disparity is widening, but also in the values of masculinity and a feminine energy, too. The latter being marked by the love, forgiveness and compassion is indispensable to societal development, Bharti observed.
Referring to the connotation of “stri”, a Sanskrit synonym to woman derived from a Sanskrit word ‘str’ which means propagation, another grandparent stated that the role of women in the society is not just restricted to that of a propagator of human race in form of a mother but it is of the propagator of human values and values associated with feminine energy. “Thus, women should come forward to raise their voice against female foeticide,” the grandparent went on to add.
Krishan Lal and Sheela, another elderly couple from the periphery of Ludhiana, termed girls as the catalyst behind “positive” works carried out in the society. “We in the capacity of grandparents will call upon every grandparent in our circle to promote the birth of girl child,” the duo said.
Source : Tribune