There are many social issues in India to deal with. However, this entry is mainly focussed on one important and common tradition in the country. The "Dowry" is a financial gift that the family of the bride has to pay to family of the groom when they are getting married. Traditionally, the purpose of the dowry was to give the husband a financial support and to thank his family for choosing their daughet and releasing them from the spinsterhood (which is still considered a curse in India).
Usually the amount of this "gift" is iracional so people must get into high doubts in order to fulfill the demands of their family-in-law. "In a middle class family, the expenditure could rise to 300.000 and 400.000 rupees (between 5.400 and 7.100 euros, something exorbitant in a country where the per capita income rises to a little more of 2.700 euros per year)"1. If the family of the bride refuses to accomplish this amount, the bride is mistreated, physically and emotionally, and sometimes even murdered. The most common way to kill the wife, is by burning her, since it is easier to make it look like an accident."In 2006 more than 9.800 cases related to violence due to the dowry were reported"2
Having a daughter in India and the payment of the dowry is so stressful to the level that even in one abortion clinic there was a poster that quoted: "Invest 3.000 rupees today and safe 30.000 rupees in the future"3. This might be the cause that now-a-days in the country, it is prohibited to know the sex of the children before they are borned. Also, many families prefer to kill the daughters or starv them to death before they grow up, in order to safe that money. This is why, in India there are more men than women, even though many campaigns are trying to change those numbers.
This tradition is supossed to be prohibited in India since 1961, with the 'Dowry Prohibition Act'; however, there are few cases that have really been taken to trial. This proves that tradition is greater than common sense, and they hide it by calling the dowry "a gift". In many cases, the family of the groom brives the police so no charges are made against them.
However, not everyone in India is in favor of that tradition. There are many young men and women in the country who are against the dowry, even when they (men) could get a signficant amount for getting married. An example of this is the website: idontwantdowry.com, a place where all young people against the dowry have the opportunitty to meet other people with the same beliefs. Many traditional families are agains this website, and they tell their sons that it is crazy to do that since they are really succesfull and have a good carrier, which in caste system means that they can charge a lot of money and luxury things for that.
The creator of the website, Satya Naresh, states that: "There are still a lot of challenges in the merriage system in India, such as the religion barriers, caste, region of origin, and economic diferences. But the dowry is the most serious thing. It is the most threatening of the social curses because it involves money, and people can kill for it"4.
Even though this website is really positive, and many efforts are beign made in order to abolish this tradition in India, the reality is that there are still a lot of families who demand the "dowry", if not before the wedding, after it.
References:
1. La dote, rito mortal en la India (2007). Retrived from: http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/05/21/solidaridad/1179746513.html
2. Íbid
3. El problema de la dote en India (2008). Retrieved from: http://www.softwarelibre.net/el_problema_de_la_dote_en_india_0
4. India: Yo no quiero dote (2007). Retrieved from:http://paraula.espacioblog.com/post/2007/10/09/india-yo-quiero-dote
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Paulina, I think your Blog is one of the most interesting ones, I would like to read about your own thoughts as well. Try to include other resources suchas as images, videos, cartoons, etc.
ResponderEliminarI found this entry very interesting since it talks about a high controversial topic. I think that traditions, manners and culture as a whole have to be respected since they are part of a group or nation identity. Despite of that, when those traditions include practices that attack or threaten the individual well-being and integrity, they should be revised, modified and finally abolished from the daily life. This is the case of “Dowry” in India, a practice that has brought severe consequences because of its conception. I do not agree with this issue because I do not see it as a gift. In contrast I perceive it as damage that attempts to the free development of an individual and that do not respect the liberty of expression (autonomy). A gift is something voluntary, a feeling that is born in each person and something that could not be forced. The families that still demand “Dowry” have to be more conscious about the implications and the magnitude of this trait, efforts against its adoption have to be stronger and punitive measures could be implemented in short-term.controversial topic.
ResponderEliminar