Pittsburgh_Patrika_October_2016

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol, 22, No. 1 , October 2016
A Jain Sannyasi’s Radical Advice for
Addressing the Gender Ratio in Northern India
The Digambar (literally, sky-clad) Jain Sannyasi (monk), Muni
Tarun Sagar, addressed the Haryana assembly in late August, bluntly
talking about social and political issues amid applause and laughter
from lawmakers. He is known for kadve pravachan (literally “bitter
discourses”), kadve because of the harsh truths he candidly conveys.
The Muni lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘beti
bachao, beti padhao’ (“Educate Girls, Save Girls”).
For a sannyasi, he was well attuned to current events: he lauded India’s
“daughters” Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu, the two Indian athletes
among the 160-plus Indian Olympic contingent to return home with
Olympic medals, for “saving India from disgrace” at the Rio Olympics.
He addressed Haryana’s poor gender ratio on account of gender
selection and female infanticide (for children 6 years and younger, the
ratio is 839 girls to 1000 boys, with the India’s national average 919
girls to 1000 boys.) Left to nature, this ratio is 995 girls to 1000 boys
at birth. As an aside, less than 1% of live human births are Intersex,
births in which the newborns do not fall into the clear-cut male-female
binary classification.
The Jain sannyasi said there are not enough women for young
Haryanvi men to marry. To reverse the skewed gender ratio, he offered
these radical changes in public behavior:
• politicians having daughters should be given preference for
contesting elections,
• people should not marry off their daughters into families not having
daughters; and
• sannyasis should not take bhiksha (alms) from families that do not
have daughters.
The message drew applause from the lawmakers.. By KSV •
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