By Mumtaz Alam, IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 13 Sep 2014: For last two months, some leaders of Sangh Parivar have launched a campaign against ‘Love Jihad’ – an alleged conspiracy which two state governments (Kerala and Karnataka) have found baseless in their official enquires in last five years. Muslim clerics too have made it clear several times that Islam does not allow, leave aside encourage, any Muslim to lure, marry and convert a Hindu girl to Islam. Yet, the hate campaign goes on.
There is no denying the fact that violence against women is increasing in the country. This is a reality that must be fought by all sections of the society – religious, nonreligious, political or apolitical. Sadly, there is no concerted campaign, particularly by Sangh Parivar leaders or outfits against the evils and crimes like rape, dowry, dowry deaths, female foeticide etc. – well documented by government agencies and presented in official reports every year. That’s why the credibility of their sudden concern for Hindu women has been questioned.
“The concern expressed for Hindu women has little credibility. Has there been a single example of the RSS or any of its organizations coming out against the inhuman honour crimes, the lynchings, the torture and often the brutal killings of young caste Hindu women by their own families or community, when they dared to choose or reciprocate the love of a Dalit boy? Or have any of these gentlemen who run bahu-beti bachao campaigns against Muslims ever spoken out against the so-called God men who have sexually exploited their women bhakts and in some cases, minor girls?…Have any of these organizations prevented or fought against the practice of dowry demands or the killings of young brides who have barely completed the Hindu marriage rituals of saath pheras before they were brutally murdered?,” says Brinda Karat, a Politburo member of the CPI (M) and a former Member of the Rajya Sabha, in her article published on the website of NDTV news channel on 12 Sep 2014.
Crimes against women are rampant in our society. There are laws to tackle them but they have mostly failed to do so successfully and here it becomes the duty of the society itself to launch a jihad (concerted campaign) to remove those evils.
In the year 2013, around 3 lakh (2,95,896) crimes against women were reported under various sections of Indian Penal Code, an increase of 27.3% compared to 2012. Of them, 33 thousand were rapes, eight thousand dowry deaths and over two thousand dowry suicides. See Tables.
IPC crime against women (2009 – 2013)
Year
IPC crime against women
Rapes
Dowry deaths
2009
194832
21397
8383
2010
205009
22172
8391
2011
219142
24206
8618
2012
232528
24923
8233
2013
295896
33707
8083
Dowry was outlawed in India in 1961 and later in 1983 a fresh law empowered local police for immediate arrest of husband and his relatives on bride’s complaint of harassment for dowry. The menace, however, is far from being curbed.
According to the latest government report Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2013, some 2267 incidents of suicide due to dowry disputes were reported from across the country in 2013, which was an increase of 17% from 2012 which had witnessed 1935 dowry suicides.
Most of dowry suicides were reported in four states – West Bengal (547), Madhya Pradesh (518), Uttar Pradesh (472) and Maharashtra (191).
Top Four States in Dowry Suicides in 2013
States
No. of Dowry Suicides
West Bengal
547
Madhya Pradesh
518
Uttar Pradesh
472
Maharashtra
191
Top Five Mega Cities in Dowry Suicides in 2013
Mega Cities
No. of Dowry Suicides
Allahabad
47
New Delhi
40
Indore
29
Mumbai
27
Gwalior
23
Besides, the Crime in India 2013 report of National Crime Record Bureau says some 8083 dowry deaths were reported from across the country in the year 2013. In last five years since 2009, some 41708 women including young brides have been killed for dowry.
Interestingly, some 28.9% of the total dowry deaths reported in the country was reported from Uttar Pradesh (2,335 cases) – the same state where Sangh Parivar is running its campaign against unproved ‘Love Jihad’.
Will they launch a campaign against the proved evils of dowry and dowry killings? They may not. Will we?
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Follow the writer on Twitter @MumtazAlam1978
