INDIA: A LAND OF CONTRAST
From the program:
OBJECTIVES
SEANCE 1: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT INDIA
Indus Valley civilization flourished on the Indian subcontinent from c. 2600
B.C. to c. 2000 B.C. It is generally accepted that the Aryans entered India c. 1500 B.C. from the northwest, finding a land that was already home to an advanced civilization.
They introduced Sanskrit and the Vedic religion, a forerunner of
They introduced Sanskrit and the Vedic religion, a forerunner of
Hinduism. Buddhism was founded in the 6th century B.C. and was spread throughout northern India, most notably by one of the great ancient kings of the Mauryan dynasty, Asoka (c. 269–232 B.C. ), who also unified most of the Indian subcontinent for the first time.
Government: Federal republic. President: Pranab Mukherjee (2012) Prime Minister: Narendra Modi (2014)
Geography: One-third the area of the United States, the Republic of India occupies most of the subcontinent of India in southern Asia. It borders on China in the northeast. Other neighbors are Pakistan on the west, Nepal and Bhutan on the north, and Burma and Bangladesh on the East.
Land area: 1,147,949 sq mi (2,973,190 sq km); total area: 1,269,338 sq mi (3,287,590 sq km)
Capital: New Delhi
Most Populated Cities in India:
Rank City* Population 2014 Population 2001
1 Delhi 24,953,000 13,850,507
2 Mumbai 20,741,000 16,434,386
3 Calcutta 14,766,000 13,205,697
4 Hyderabad 11,458,741 5,742,036
5 Bangalore 10,839,725 5,701,446
6 Chennai 9,121,477 6,560,242
7 Ahmedabad 7,368,614 4,525,013
8 Jaipur 6,612,914 1,518,200
9 Surat 5,748,238 2,811,614
10 Pune 5,571,419 3,760,636
*Refers to the urban agglomeration, which would also count the surrounding urban areas in the total.
Monetary unit: Rupee
Economy: Unemployment: 8.8% (2013 est.).
Labor force: 487.6 million (2012); agriculture 19%, services 54.7%, industry 26.3% (2010).
Major trading partners: U.S., UAE, China, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Singapore (2011)
Communications: Mobile phone subscribers: 886 million (2014).
Internet hosts: 6.746 million compared to 505 million in the United States (2012).
Internet users: 354 million in June 2015 compared to 205 in October 2013.
Web quest
Groupe 1.
INDIAN EMPIRE
1. With your group answer this question by searching on the web.
2. For Friday, resume your answers and present it to the rest of
the group.
1) When did the Europeans start to invade India ?
2) Which European power ruled India at the time ?
3) How was the government called. Give the time period.
4) On http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/21.html
“Explore the Topic” drag down there is a link title “British Raj.” Use
these readings to answer the following questions. a. What was the
British Raj? What does the word « raj » mean? What is its origin?
5) Explain what a dominion is.
6) What was the relationship between Indians and British people
there ?
7) Search what was the Indian mutiny (give also the time period).
8) Who were the major figures of the Indian independence ?
9) When did India win its independence ?
10) What is the Indian partition ?
11) Sum up your information in a short paragraph
Web quest
Groupe 2.
INDIAN KEY MONUMENTS
1. With your group anwer this question by searching on the web.
2. For Friday, resume your answers and present it to the rest of
the group.
1) Choose 6 Indian monuments. Two have to be built during the Empire and one has to
celebrate the Empress of India.
2)
3) Give information about :
• The date and place of construction
• The meaning (symbole of power, of love, of justice, religion or education...?)
• Type of architecture
• The commissioner and who it is for
Prepare to sum up to the class.
Web quest
Groupe 3.
INDIAN GEOGRAPHY, LANGUAGE AND RELIGION
1. With your group anwer this question by searching on the web.
2. For Friday, resume your answers and present it to the rest of
the group.
1) What is the political Indian capital ? What is the economical capital ?
2) What are the border countries of India ?
1) Where is the India Pakistan border ?
2) What are the main speaking languages in India ?
3) What are the differences between Urdu and Indu languages ? (2elements)
4) Search one word in Urdu and one in Indu and try to write it ?
5) Name the different religions in India.
6) Give the religious partition in India (in %)
7) Explain :
• Dharma
• Samsara
• Karma
• Moksha
• Yogas
8) Explain the 42nd amendment of the Indian constitution in regards to religion.
Prepare to sum up your information to the class.
Web quest
Groupe 4
BRITISH COLONISATION IN INDIA
1. With your group anwer this question by searching on the web.
2. For Friday, resume your answers and present it to the rest of
the group.
1. By looking at the map http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/resources/map/online
:answer the following question with predictions of your own:
a. Why would any European colony want to colonize India?
(Think resources, location, etc.)
here is some help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company
2. Why was India called Britain’s “Jewel in the Crown”?
http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/teachers/lessons/6/
3. By clicking on this link http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/21.html and
looking at “Explore the Topic” answer the following questions:
a. What allowed Europeans to colonize India?
b. What measures did Great Britain take to maintain dominance in the area?
c. The British thought they brought some “positives” to India? Can you name a few?
3. By clicking on this link http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/21.html and
looking at “Explore the Topic” answer the following questions:
a. What allowed Europeans to colonize India?
b. What measures did Great Britain take to maintain dominance in the area?
c. The British thought they brought some “positives” to India? Can you name a few
WHO’ S GANDHI ?
Répondez à ces
questions pour lundi.
Vous pouvez faire vos recherches en
français. Vous n’êtes pas obligé de répondre par des phrases complètes, des
mots clés en anglais suffisent. L‘importance c’est que pour réviser pour le
jour du control vous avez des
notes assez claires. Nous ne
répondrons pas à toutes ces questions en classe. Il est donc indispensable que
vous répondez à toutes ces questions et faies ces recherches par vous –même.
Emission radio en français sur
Gandhi ; http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20170624-gandhi-afrique-sud-mahatma-avocat-ashram-prison-parcours
1. What is Gandhi’s full name ?
2. When and Where was Gandhi
born ?
3. What was he doing in England ?
4. What was Gandhi doing in South Africa ?
5. What is the transvaal/ Asiatic Law
Amendment act passed in 1906 ?
6. What happened at the Johannesburg
Empire theater in September 11th
1906 ?
7. What philosophy was intrduced at
this moment ?
8. When was he arrested and why ?
9. What is the March of the
salt ?
10. What do you know about the Indian
National Congress and Gandhi
11. What did he do in September 1932
for the Untouchables ?
12. What is the « Quit India
Movement ?
13. When did Gandhi die ?
14. When was the Independence of India
declared ?
Trace écrite
Gandhi was born in India in 1869, and he died in 1948, only one year after the Independence of India. When he was younger, he left India for London, England, where he studied law. Thus, he used to be a lawyer before he became the spiritual and political leader known by all today. He then went to South Africa where he created his non-violent, peaceful method to fight the control of the British Empire over India.
Correction des questions non vues en classe
The Salt March, which took place from March to April 1930 in India, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) to protest British rule in India. During the march, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from his religious retreat near Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some 240 miles. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself. India finally was granted its independence in 1947.
Untouchable/ Caste system of India
For millennia, caste has been the organizing principle of society in India. Determined by birth, caste draws distinctions between communities, determining one's profession, level of education and potential marriage partner. Privileges are reserved for the upper castes and denied the lower ones. The lowliest in this pecking order are the Dalits, once called "untouchables" as they are consigned by the Hindu hierarchy to the dirtiest occupations. It's a sizable community of some 200 million people. The word Dalit comes from a Hindi word meaning "oppressed, suppressed, downtrodden."
Gandhi
1982 ‧ Biography/History‧ 3h
79% liked this film
Release date: March 23, 1982
Director: Richard Attenborough
Producer: Richard Attenborough
Awards: Academy Award for Best 
TRACE ECRITE DESCRIPTION DE L'IMAGE
This picture is the official poster of a movie untitled Gandhi released in 1982.
Gandhi, the famous Indian spiritual and political leader is in the middle of this picture: we can regognized his famous mustache, his bald skull, his glasses and his frail ( skinny) figure( = silhouette). Because of the way he is dressed, he looks like a monk : he wears a white gown ( toga). He stands in sharp contrast with the crowd that surrounds him. Indeed, people encircling him looks darker, because their skins are darker but also because they have dark hair. Also, they seem turbulent and restless whereas Gandhi appears calm. This contrast enables ( permet) Gandhi to appear as a Saint (or as an angel, or as a divine apparition, a theophany...). Added to this, his hands are joigned as if he was praying. This religious iconography foretells how Gandhi was a religious man who gathered crowd of followers around him without violence, but fighting peacefully for justice.
peace noun
peaceful adjective
peacefully adverb
Oral compréhension
Video untitled "Not in my Obedience"
TRACE ECRITE:
This is a speech delivered by Gandhi when India was still part of the British Empire. In front of a crowd in an amphitheater, Gandhi is asking Indian people to fight injustice but/yet/however without violence. That is to say even if the British beat, torture or kill Indians, the Indians will resist peacefully. Therefore, Gandhi thinks it is better to die than to accept /obey/surrender to unfair laws.
Do you know if this non-violent movement was successful? It led to the Indian independence of 1947.
Do you know any other famous person who has the same philosophy? MLK
Do you know which day today is?
It’s MLK birthday in the US today. Actually, as you can see here MLK was inspired by Gandhi’s peaceful teaching in his fight against racial injustice.
Now turn to your partner, and let see if you agree: Do you think non-violent fight is a good idea in situations when someone unfairly oppresses you?
SEANCE 3: India: a land of Innovations?
Trace écrite
INDIA: a land of innovations?
Since its Independence/ Since the mid-1980s, India has undergone a lot of changes and its economy has grown. Indeed, India has now a lot of successful, innovative and technological industries.
For instance, the car industry has improved tremendously: since 2008 the Tata Navo car has been a success: it's a very small city car, that is perfect to replace the motorbikes used daily even by the middle class. It was launched in 2008, and since its inception Nano has received much media attention due to its low price( one lakh rupees or ₹100,000 (US$1,600),) . It is a very affordable price, meaning that almost everyone can afford a car now.
Excerpt from an article welcoming the Tato Nano.
"Buying a car was for a long time a dream for many people in India. Cars were restricted strictly to people belonging to upper middle class and above them. However, in the year 2008, Ratan Tata under the banner of Tata Motors Limited announced the launch of its new car, which would be a revolutionary product in the automobile sector."
Observez la 1ere phrase. Qu'avons-nous exprimé ici?
l'idée d'une progression à travers le temps. Une progression qui prend son point de départ dans le passé et qui continue jusque dans le moment présent de la situation d'énonciation ( moment où je parle, j'écris cette phrase.)
Comment avons-nous fait pour exprimer cette idée?
Nous avons utilisé le PRESENT PERFECT
Observez la 1ere phrase. Qu'avons-nous exprimé ici?
l'idée d'une progression à travers le temps. Une progression qui prend son point de départ dans le passé et qui continue jusque dans le moment présent de la situation d'énonciation ( moment où je parle, j'écris cette phrase.)
Comment avons-nous fait pour exprimer cette idée?
Nous avons utilisé le PRESENT PERFECT
PRESENT PERFECT
HAVE+BV-EN ( = -ed pour verbes réguliers/ 3emecolonnes pour verbes irréguliers et non la 2nd !)
HAVE= présent
BV-EN= passé
Le Present Perfect sert à exprimer (entre autre) :
Une valeur de bilan / ( comme ici)
L’impact d’une action passée sur le présent ( comme ici)
Avec SINCE s’emploi obligatoirement le present perfect ( comme ici)
SI vous voulez contraster/comparer avec le prétérit, observez une autre phrase de cette trace écrite : "It was launched in 2008".
Ici, l’action se passe à un moment précis dans le passé, en 2008. Cette action n’est pas mise en relation avec le présent, l’impact de cette action n’est pas évaluée. Cette action se trouve en rupture avec le moment de l’énonciation ( moment où je parle, écris cette phrase), détaché du présent. On observe l’action de manière nue, objective, aucun commentaire n’y est attaché ( pas de valeur de bilan). Cette action est terminée.
Autres points de grammaire abordés pendant la trace écrite :
PONCTUATION adjectifs ( only for COORDINATED ADJ)
Deux adjectifs= séparés par AND. Ex : some inoovative and successful industries.
Plus de deux= virgules Sauf entre l’avant dernier et le dernier adjectifs. Ex ; some innovative, successful, growing, powerful, efficient and technological industries.
The 1980’s ou The 1980s ?
Les deux sont souvent utilisés ( 1980s plus britannique) 1980’s ( plus US)
La tendance actuelle est de considérer 1980’s incorrecte….
Observez ces deux structures qui expriment la même idée :
A lot of changes
Lots of changes
VOC
to afford /əˈfɔːd/ offrir, fournir
I can't afford a new computer right now: je ne peux pas me payer /m'offrir/me permettre d'acheter un nouvel ordinateur en ce moment.
affordable / əˈfɔːdəbəl/= abordable
to undergo /ʌndəˈɡəʊ/ subir, endurer, faire l'expérience (pénible) de
I underwent a lot of surgery in my past. J'ai subi beaucoup d'opérations chirurgicales dans le passé.
tremendously trəˈmɛndəsli/ énormément
tremendous énorme, beaucoup
SEANCE 4 : INDIA, a land of contrast
( this is not the picture studied in class)
TRACE ECRITE
INDIA: A LAND OF CONTRAST
In this picture, we can see two contrasted views of contemporary India. The photograph was taken in Mumbai, the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the eighth most populous city in the world. Mumbai is India’s largest city (by population) and is the financial and commercial capital of the country.
At the top of the picture (/ at the background), we observe some impressive skyscrapers embodying Mumbai's financial headquarter. These high-rise buildings symbolize the city economical power. In sharp contrast, at the foreground ( at the bottom), we observe a very poor district made of slums, called Dharavi. It is a shanty town within the city of Mumbai. Dharavi is Asia 's largest slum! This is the world of destituted people in need, people who live below ( under) the poverty line. Dharavi's inhabitants are outcasts.
The photographer captured India as a two-tier society. His picture shows the divide, the inequalities between the poor and the rich.
Points ( linguistiques) abordés
1° differences entre a photograph, a photographer
2° discription d'image
at the top/ at the top right of the picture, at the top left of the picture
at the bottom
at the foreground/ forefront
in the background
in the middle, at the center
a dividing line
a line of divide
a sharp contrast
de haut en bas from top to bottom
3°voc en plus
ass fesse ( vulgaire)
bottom le derrière ( le fessier)
buttock fessier
the butt ( les fesses)
breast les seins
bosom poitrine ( femmes) breast (hommes, animaux)
boobs ( familier) les seins
DHARAVI CONTINUES
A) Trace écrite
B) CORRIGÉ DE LA FICHE DU WORKBOOK
A) daily life in Dharavi
This document is a excerpt from Q & A, a novel written by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat and it was published in 2005. The story is set in India, it tells the rags to riches story of Ram Mohammad Thomas, a young waiter who becomes the biggest quiz show winner in history, only to be sent to jail on accusations (but with no evidence) that he cheated. In 2008, the book was loosely adapted into the multiple Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.
In this excerpt, we learn that the narrator is one of the many migrants who have come to Mumbai dreaming of a better life, the city where dreams may come true. Indeed, Mumbai is called the city of gold. Yet, as the narrators says, the city has turned into a city of lead and his dreams have been shattered because he struggles everyday to make ends meet. He lives in a shabby, squalid and filthy place with no sanitation nor running water. He lives under the poverty line.
His housing in Dharavi is illegal and he received daily threat of demolition. But, he does not care simply because he has no time to care: he is too busy trying to survive.
VOC:
the rags to riches story contes de fees ( mot à mot : des chiffons à la richesse)
waiter serveur
to cheat tromper, tricher, frauder
loosely vaguement, librement
to adapt adapter
the city where dreams may come true. La ville où les rèves deviennent réalité.
Lead==plomb
Shattered= brisé
A struggle un conflit, une lute, un combat
To struggle lutter avoir des difficultés
Make ends meet joinder les deux bouts
Shabby minable, miteux
Squalid sordide, misérable
filthy crasseux, immonde sale
EX du VOC en contexte:
The people who migrate to Mumbai look for better opportunities / a better future / better prospects.
They want to make their dreams come true / to turn their dreams into reality. They dream of ragsto-
riches stories / of climbing the rungs of the social ladder / of a better and higher standard of living.
They are hopeful. They are determined to improve their living conditions / to fulfil their dreams / to
start from scratch / to start a new life / to escape poverty. They want to flee a life of misery, want
and debts. They are yearning for money and success.
Their dreams are shattered. They still live in grinding poverty. They live in dire straits,
below the poverty line. They are destitute / needy / poverty-stricken. They live in cramped
conditions, can hardly make ends meet. They live in squalid houses.
The weak and the poor are threatened by developers who need land for the rapid transformation
of the country. They fear they might be thrown out of their homes by developers who want
to get rid of them. They are in a deadlock, they are stuck and powerless.
CORRIGÉ DE LA FICHE DU WORKBOOK (P. 17-18)
➼ Paragraph 1
- 1. exigu - plaque de tôle ondulée - entassé - miséreux / démuni – bidonville
2. hand/ ful - dead / ly - dust / y 2. - poignée - mortel - poussiéreux
3. décharge
City
|
Type of area
|
Housing
|
Living conditions
|
Mumbai, Dharavi,
|
A slum: a very poor district
/ a shanty town
“Asia’s biggest slum”
(l. 18)
|
“in a cramped hundredsquare-
foot shack” (l. 3)
“with a corrugated metal
sheet serving as the roof
over my head.” (l. 6)
|
“no natural light or ventilation” (l. 4)
“There is no running water
and no sanitation.” (l. 10)
“It vibrates violently whenever
a train passes overhead.” (l. 8)
|
Overpopulated ciity
|
A city within a city
|
= Squalid housing
|
= very harsh living condition
|
Number of inhabitants
|
Where from?
|
Conflicts
|
A million: “There are
a million people like me,”
(l. 13)
|
Destitute migrants from all over
the country” (l. 17)
Dharavi’s residents come from the
dusty backwaters of Bihar and UP
and Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.” (l. 19)
|
“There are daily squabbles
– over inches of space,
over a bucket of water – which
at times turn deadly.” (l. 18
|
Nickname
|
Reasons for coming
|
“the city of gold” (l. 21)
|
“with dreams in their hearts of striking it rich and
living upper-middle-class lives.” (l. 21)
|
The city of gold turned into a city of lead.
|
To have a better life, a better future
|
= Broken dreams, shattered dreams
|
1. Gangrenous qualifies a wound that is infected or a limb that is rotting away. Here, it
means that many of those who came to Mumbai hoping for a better life were disappointed.
Their dreams were shattered because they never came true. It is as if their minds had been
poisoned, so to speak.
2. The narrator’s rusted heart and gangrenous mind.
3. The narrator means that the residents’ hopes have been crushed and the wound is still
a gaping wound. They are bitter and disillusioned.
Home means that all the inhabitants of Dharavi feel that place is theirs. They are deeply attached
to it and feel in some way that they belong, that is where their roots are from now on.
➼ Paragraph 2
a) cancerous lump (l. 25) b) - neon-lit (l. 25) = noun + past participle; éclairé au néon
- outlawed (l. 26) = out (prefix) + law (root) + -ed (past participle = suffix); déclaré hors-la-loi
“Amidst the modern skyscrapers and neon-lit shopping complexes of Mumbai, Dharavi sits
like a cancerous lump in the heart of the city.” (l. 25) Dharavi is located right in the middle
of Mumbai (in the heart of the city). It is close to the modern part of the town (amidst the
modern skyscrapers and neon-lit shopping complexes of Mumbai).
a) illegal
b)
Officials’ attitude
|
Threat
|
Residents’ reaction
|
Why?
|
“And the city refuses
to recognize it.
So it has outlawed it.”
(l. 25
|
“All the houses in
Dharavi are ‘illegal
constructions’, liable
to be demolished at
any time.” (l. 26)
|
“...they don’t care.”
(l. 27)
|
“...are struggling
simply to survive.”
(l. 27) They try
to make ends meet,
so they keep working.
|
SEANCE 4: SOCIAL CHALLENGES FACING CONTEMPORARY INDIA
1. ARRANGED MARRIAGE
2. CHILD MARRIAGE
Part 1: .
Santa Devi Meghwal was married off when she
was 11 months old. She knew that, on turning 16, she would move in with her
husband and his parents.
The reality hit her when they
turned up at her house in Rohicha Kallan village in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur
district on a scorching* day three
years ago to take her away*. It was the first time she had set eyes on*
her husband, Saanval Ram.
“My strongest emotion was the
unfairness of it. Why should I go along with something I wasn’t party to, or
even aware of? I couldn’t face being treated like a parcel to be picked up by a
man I didn’t care for,” she said, speaking on the telephone from Jodhpur.
Part
2: .
Under the 2006 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, it is illegal for girls under 18
and boys under 21 to marry in India. Those convicted of involvement face up to
two years in jail and fines of up to 200,000 rupees (about £2,100). However,
2014 figures from Unicef, the UN children’s agency, show that 47% of girls in India were married
before they turned 18.
The practice is common in rural areas.
“Almost all the people know that
there is a law against child marriage – however, it still takes place as societal norms and
pressure pushes people into breaking these rules,” said Dora Giusti, a child
protection specialist with Unicef in New Delhi.
“Villagers don’t like city people
coming and telling them their customs are wrong. Changing attitudes is a slow
process,” said Kavita Srivastava, a Jaipur-based women’s rights activist.
Part
3:
.
Child marriage can result in
girls dropping out of school*, early pregnancies, and mothers
who are ill-equipped to raise children, activists say.
Parents sometimes marry off their
daughters because they fear that later, as teenagers, they might have sexual relations and
bring shame upon their families. Another factor is peer pressure: parents worry
that unless they act, they
won’t be able to find their daughters a husband. Opposition to change is
entrenched*.
Part
4:
.
Meghwal found herself trapped in
by these traditions. During that first visit by Ram and his family she made an
excuse not to leave with them. The excuses continued as she turned 18, then 19. Ram’s family
grew angry.
Elders in Meghwal’s village
imposed a fine of 1.6 million rupees on her parents. With no way to pay such a
colossal sum, the family moved to Jodhpur.
Part
5: .
….India still has one of the lowest
divorce rates in
the world. Ending a marriage still carries stigma in rural areas, where a woman
will find it very hard to remarry. Divorce also takes longer to rule on in
India’s overburdened* courts and is very expensive.
Scorching :
brulant
To set eyes on
someone : poser son regard sur quelqu’un, premier coup d’oeil
Take someone
away : emmener quelqu’un
To drop school :
laisser tomber l’école, déserter
To marry off=
« faire marier quelqu’un »
Entrenched :
enraciné
Burden : fardeau , charge, poids
3. FEMALE FOETICIDE
Clutching husband Rajesh’s hand, 20-year-old
Nilima stares at a monitor displaying grainy black and white swirls*. She’s 20
weeks pregnant and they’re in a small clinic in Jaipur, the capital of the
western Indian state of Rajasthan, about to see an image of their unborn baby
for the first time.
Her husband has his eyes glued to the monitor
as the doctor examines the foetus’ heart and vital details to check it’s growth
and health. But there’s one thing Rajesh, a businessman, wants to know more
than anything else – the sex of their child.
When the scan is over, the doctor leads Rajesh
and Nilima to his office where he gives them the news – their unborn baby is a
girl. The disappointment on both the parents’ faces is evident. While Nilima’s
eyes well up because she knows what her fate and that of her unborn child will
be, Rajesh quietly takes the doctor to a corner of his office.
Seeing
both of them speak in hushed* tones, Nilima knows what is being discussed: an
abortion. She is reluctant* to undergo one, but she knows she will be forced to
by her husband and his parents.
They all
want a boy. If she protests, she will be tortured until she agrees, or forced
by other means to get rid of the child growing inside her. And if, by some
luck, she does have the child, the chances of it being allowed to live would be
thin – it would very likely be killed.
Sadly
Nilima is not alone. Thousands of pregnant women in India are reportedly forced
by their husbands and in-laws to undergo sex-determination tests, and if the
foetus is found to be female, get it aborted.
While determining a foetus’ sex is
illegal in India, several clinics across the country surreptitiously agree to
conduct tests and reveal the sex of the foetus for a price. Depending on the
kind of clinic and the location, the cost for determining the sex varies from
Rs3,000 to Rs8,000 (Dh201 to Dh537), say campaigners.
A national shame’
The central government has been
working to stop the practice of killing girl children. Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh has gone on record to describe female foeticide and infanticide as a
“national shame” calling for a “crusade” to save girl babies. Laws are also in
place to prevent such acts.
Debt due to
daughters
There are many reasons for the
prevalence of this horrific practice. In India, with a population of 1.2
billion, daughters are still seen as a burden on families and finances. In
traditional Indian families, the bride goes to live in the groom’s house and is
expected to look after all the needs of her in-laws.
So couples prefer having male
children so they will bring home a wife to look after them in their old age.
Also, a girl’s family can end up deep in debt paying a dowry to secure her
marriage, not to mention arranging for all the wedding expenses and purchasing
the gold jewellery she is expected to wear on her wedding day.
Although outlawed in India in 1961, the dowry system is
still common and takes different forms where some families give away money and
gold, while others give land, motor vehicles and sometimes even fully furnished
houses. This contributes to the cultural preference for boys.
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