People's Democracy

AIDWA Demands Modi Should Apologise

 THE All India Democratic Women’s Association has strongly objected to and condemned the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s call at a Gandhinagar farmers rally to give irrigation pump sets in a daughter’s dowry. “By giving this call Modi has clearly violated the law by promoting the illegal practice of dowry”, stated AIDWA in a statement issued on January 27.

In a separate letter to the BJP national president, M Venkaiah Naidu on the same day, AIDWA general secretary Brinda Karat requested him to issue a clarification as to what the stand of his party is concerning the illegal and retrograde practice of dowry and whether the statement of Narendra Modi reflects the stand of his party and if not whether he will ensure that the chief minister will issue a public apology.

Quoting from press reports which stated that “Modi proposed that farmers give drip dry irrigation sets as dowry to their daughters,” AIDWA questioned, “Does Mr. Modi not know that there is a Dowry Prohibition Act in this country?”

Gujarat is notorious for the shocking figures of declining sex ratios of girl children in the population. In the last decade the Gujarat sex ratio has declined drastically from 934 to 921 in the total population, and in the age group 0-5 years in the years 1991 to 2001 the decline was as high as 50 points -- one of the highest declines in the country from 928 to 878. It has been shown that at least one of the reasons for female feticide is the growing practice of dowry. But Modi, far from showing any concern for the serious implications of the declining sex ratio, actually promotes one of its causes, AIDWA stated.

Making clear that as chief minister Modi is duty bound to uphold the constitutional guarantees for gender equality whatever his personal retrograde views may be, the AIDWA demanded that he should make a public apology and withdraw his remarks.