INDIA AND PAKISTAN: THE CONFLICT OVER KASHMIR.

The price of being a woman: Slavery in modern Iindia

The desire for sons has created a severe shortage of marriageable young women. Parents sell their daughters to men who are looking for a wife.

There are a lot of victims of the common practice in India of aborting baby girls because parents only want boys. Indian parents want boys because girls are seen as a heavy financial burden: the parents have to provide an expensive dowry for their weddings, while sons will bring money into the family when they marry, and have better job prospects.

Although girls are born and live into early adulthood, it will be the abortions that caused their death. In the villages of Haryana, just outside Delhi, abortions of baby girls have become so common that the shortage of women is severe. Unable to find wives locally, the men have resorted to buying women from the poorer parts of India.

It’s hard for women to escape, because no one wants to help her. Even police don't risk coming in to these villages unarmed. Villagers have attacked police who tried to rescue the brides, and set their cars on fire. The government women's shelter in Haryana state has places for only 25 women, and it is full.

An Indian doctor became the first to be jailed for telling a woman the sex of her unborn baby. India is trying to stamp out the practice of female foeticide. But still, the abortions go on. To get round the police, doctors have started using codes to tell the people the sex of their baby: if the ultrasound report is written in blue ink, it's a boy; if it's in red ink, it's a girl. If the report is delivered on Monday, it's a boy, if it's Friday, it's a girl.

Meanwhile the trafficked women keep coming, from across India, to fill the places of the unborn women.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN: THE CONFLICT OVER KASHMIR.

India and Pakistan are two neighboring countries located in South East Asia. Their hatred for each other has its roots in history, religion, and more recently, a dangerous arms race.

In the middle of 20^th century India became independent. Under the leadership of Mohandas Gandhi, the Indians fought the British for their independence. But since Hindus made up the majority of the population in the country, the Muslims refused to live in an independent state dominated by Hindus. They argued that such a state would destroy Islam and discriminate against Muslims. Instead, they demanded a separate and independent state of their own to be called Pakistan. Pakistan was actually made up of two areas, West Pakistan (to the northwest of India) and East Pakistan (to the northeast of India).

The present conflict between India and Pakistan revolves around the territory called Kashmir, which is located to the north of both countries . Both India and Pakistan say Kashmir is a part of their territory. The ruler of Kashmir, the Maharaja, was Hindu while the majority of the population was, and still remains, Muslims. The Maharaja had three choices - join with India, join with Pakistan or remain independent. In the end, he agreed to make Kashmir a part of India. This event is much in dispute. Pakistan argues that the Maharaja was forced by India to sign over Kashmir to them while India maintains that this was not the case. Since Muslims make up the majority of the population, Pakistan claims that Kashmir should be a part of Pakistan. The Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten, made it clear that this decision would be made final only when the people of Kashmir vote in a plebiscite or referendum on the matter. India accepted this position but has never allowed such referendum to take place. Many believe that India refuses to hold a plebiscite for fear that the majority of Kashmiris would vote to join Pakistan. Following the first war, a cease-fire was declared and a Line of Control (COL) was drawn separating the two sides. The LOC left two thirds of Kashmir under Indian control and the remaining one-third under Pakistani control.

Since the 1980's, a rebellion has broken out in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir against Indian rule. Pakistan argues that the rebellion is homegrown i.e. the Muslim majority there are fighting to overthrow the oppressive Indian rule. Some groups are fighting for independence for Kashmir. These people, including many Muslims, do not want to side with either India or Pakistan. They want the establishing of a genuine independent state of Kashmir, free of both Indian and Pakistani control. The conflict, started as an indigenous rebellion has now been taken over by extremist Muslim or Islamic militants with the support of Pakistan. India is demanding an end to Pakistan's support for these militant groups and to prevent them from crossing the Line of Control. However, Pakistan continues to deny that it is supporting the militants.

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 550