Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Women have endured crimes just because they are women. And the worst of those crimes is female foeticide. That is snuffing out a life determining the sex of the foetus right in the womb. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used this darkest of dark crime to attack the Opposition, including the Congress, for nipping the process of women’s reservation in Parliament and Assemblies in the bud.
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The use of the imagery of “bhrun hatya” (female foeticide) for the killing of the Nari Shakti Vandan bill by Modi was intended to hit the Opposition hard by associating it with a hideous crime. It was also a reminder of the government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme, which helped in curbing female foeticide and bettering India’s sex ratio at birth.
PM Modi addressed the nation on Saturday and lashed out at the Opposition for defeating the Nari Shakti Vandan Bill. The Bill, which would have reserved 33% of seats in Parliament and state Assemblies, was defeated in voting on Friday in the Lok Sabha. This was the first legislative defeat for the Modi government in 12 years. The attack came just a day later.
Modi accused the Opposition, specifically naming the Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), for killing the name. He said both the Congress and the SP has wasted the opportunity to get rid of them being “anti-women parties”.
“The Nari Shakti Vandan amendment was a grand resolve to give new opportunities, new flight, and remove obstacles before the women of 21st century India. It was a sacred effort made with clear intent and honesty to give rights to 50% of the country, that is, half the population. It was an effort to make women co-travellers in India’s journey of development and unite everyone,” Modi said, denying any political motive behind the move.
He said Nari Shakti Vandan amendment was the demand of the times, and it was an effort to equally increase the strength of every state, to give more strength to the voice of all states in Parliament.
“But Congress and its allies committed foeticide of this honest effort in the House before the whole country. They committed foeticide. Parties like Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, and DMK are guilty of this foeticide. They are offenders against the Constitution of the country. They are offenders against the women of the country,” said Modi.
Female foeticide is one of the worst crimes because a life is snuffed out in the womb itself because of the sex of the foetus.
MODI’S BETI BACHAO BETI PADHAO IMPROVED SEX RATIO IN INDIA
The high rate of foeticide in the country made the government ban prenatal sex determination. Prenatal sex determination is illegal in India under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994. The law came into force in 1996.
Several states like Haryana, Bihar and Maharashtra continued to have a skewed sex ratio at birth, with more boys than girls. A clear result of female foeticide.
Bans alone have rarely worked. Any societal change, needs a change in the mindset.
PM Modi in January 2015 launched the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme from Panipat, Haryana. The scheme became a national movement for the girl child and helped bettering the sex ratio in India. It increased sex ratio at birth to 930 in 2023-24 against 918 in 2014-15.
WHY PM MODI USED FEMALE FOETICIDE TO ATTACK OPPOSITION
The use of the term female foeticide by the PM must have been specifically intended at the women of the country. What it does is makes the messaging crisper, adds a grisly crime to the actions of the Opposition and associates the parties with a hideous crime.
The BJP knew it didn’t have the 2/3rds majority to get the three bills passed, but it called a special session of Parliament and engaged in a debate with the Opposition. It put the ball in the Opposition’s court. BJP leaders, including Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, warned the parties that they would face the wrath of women whenever they went for canvassing if they didn’t help pass the bills.
The Opposition parties called the move a bid at delimitation through the back door and opposed it. The bill was defeated on Friday in the Lok Sabha.
In his address to the nation on Saturday, PM Modi apologised to the women of the country, but vowed that the fight to get them their rights would continue. He named four parties — Congress, DMK, TMC and SP — and signalled the way ahead.
The Congress is the principal opposition party, while the DMK is the main party in Tamil Nadu and the TMC in West Bengal. Both Tamil Nadu and Bengal will be voting within days for its Assembly. The SP is the main challenger in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls in 2027.
Modi has created women as a new bloc of voters through his schemes, speeches and outreach. In state after state, the BJP has used women-centric schemes to return to power.
The BJP will use bhrun hatya or female foeticide to deliver a short and crisp message to the women against the Opposition, which will get entangled in complex explanations. The BJP’s message will be clear and powerful, linking the Opposition with a hideous crime. The Opposition’s counter-messaging will get lost in complexities. This is why PM Modi chose the term “bhrun hatya”. It encapsulates the accusations the BJP is trying to blame the Opposition for. It is likely to become an oft-used term in the elections ahead.
– Ends
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
