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Dowry-A curse on women & society

Young Bites. Dated: 3/31/2018 11:54:28 AM

Dowry is not only a curse; it is actually the mother of all evils in society.”Dowry is a dreadful and unethical practice. Now a days dowry has become a part of wedding ceremonies. If we say that this is common thing among the illiterate or uneducated people, we will be wrong because educated people are also involved in this evil. Dowry is a social evil which affected our society very badly. It is the cause of our social and economic deterioration. The custom of dowry is the route of many evils. There is no religious concern with this practice, but majority of the people happily adopt it. The elite class to some extent is responsible for this tradition because, they give luxuries to their daughter that a poor man cannot afford. So, the poor people take huge debts because of dowry. They spend the rest of their lives to pay their debts. Others do not hesitate to earn money by unfair means to meet the demand of dowry. Many people considered dowry as a religious obligation due to lack of knowledge. Although in reality it is a gift of money or property made by the husband to the wife which becomes her absolute property, in our society the dowry system is not only mandated for girls but also for boys. Today we fix dowry rates for boys of different categories doctors, engineers, lecturers, business men, etc. Merit of the girl is of no value. Parents find it difficult to select a boy, well-settled in life. On the other hand, the boy accepts that girl who belongs to a well-off family, highly educated in service and earns. He also wants a girl whose parents can give hefty dowry at the time of marriage. Most of us talk of equality of sex. But when it comes to a marriage of girls, why are the parents asked to give a dowry for their girls. The government thought it to be an illegal practice and passed the Dowry Prohibition Act way back in 1961. But did the practice of dowry stop with the passage of the act? To do away with this evil, people have to look within their mind and their conscience should be stirred that this practice is not good for the society as a whole.Though many laws can be proposed to curb dowry system, it is not possible to eradicate the evil unless there is change in people’s mind . The reason for dowry is greed. It is always the tendency of humans to utilize the chance of getting something free. Social mental set up also works behind it such as in Indian society girls are considered a liability while boys as assets. Culturally sons are preferred. This accords a secondary social status to women. Nalini singh says that woman has ‘zero political status’ in family. They are considered of less productive value than man so dowry is considered to be a compensation for that ‘worth deficiency’.Several surveys reveal that dowry cases have risen drastically within last 10 to 15 years. It is considered that dowry system was facilitated by economic liberalization. Sudden rise in dowry cases is also linked to the rising consumerist culture and according to the report of AIDWA, the natural tendency of human to have easy access to the consumer goods which was prompted by the varied choices of consumer goods available in the market. Heightened incidents of dowry can be attributed to the changing economic structure of society consequent social polarization.Dowry is not the only problem of Indian society, attached to it is the whole bunch of corresponding evils. International women’s conference in Australia accepted that female foeticide is directly related to dowry. Middle and lower income groups who are not able to fulfill the demand of dowry think it wise to nip in the bud. Domestic violence is another consequence of this evil.This colossal problem persists even after centuries, is mainly because stringent laws alone can not bring change at level of mentality of people for that mass movement needs to be initiated. Mass awareness is to be created. Hundreds of dowry deaths are closed as just kitchen accidents or suicides. Around 40 percent women married happen to be below eighteen years of age and illiterate thus not in position to assert themselves. Their voice remains unheard in society.Lack of political participation due to social-economic constraints is another reason why woman has not been able to assert herself and protect against this evil. This is also considered the failure of male- oriented polity by some experts. Due to all these disadvantageous position of woman, we fail to solve this problem even after all attention and focus on it.Women’s education and enhanced participation in political process, position in decision-making bodies will improve the situation.They need to be provided with shield of protection which should not be blunt like present laws but razor sharp that could really help them and prevent them from taking extreme steps.The dowry system is not new but It is very old system. It was also present in the days of Gautam Buddha and Mahavir. But in those days there was no compulsion, but in modern times this system has taken a very ugly shape. It is now demanded and settled after a hard bargain. The boys are now sold in the open market on the highest price. The parents have to purchase them for their daughters. Even if the girl is equally or highly qualified still boy’s parents in terms of dowry demand what they have spent on their son’s education, career, business etc. When parents are unable to meet dowry demand their daughters are compelled to accept unmatched marriages.As a result of this system, many young brides commit suicide. This system has made the lives of poor parents of girls miserable. If they are unable to arrange a rich dowry, they find it difficult or rather impossible to marry their daughters to suitable young boys. Thousands of poor girls are compelled to pass unmarried life on account of this evil. The birth of the daughter in the house becomes a cause of great worry for the parents. Their lives become miserable. Some parents earn money by immoral means for the marriage of their daughters. Some parents are compelled to marry their daughters to old men or widowers. Brides who do not bring rich dowry with them are ill-treated. They are insulted and beaten and sometimes even killed.
There is an awakening in the society against the dowry system now. It has drawn the attention of the government. Anti-dowry Act was passed in 1961, but it could not bring any major change in the society. During the emergency, the government again showed deep interest in rooting out this evil. Many State Governments passed Dowry Acts. Now public meetings are often held in towns and cities to consider ways and means of checking this evil. The youth should oppose the direct and indirect ways of offering and accepting dowry. Anti-dowry Act which passed to check the evil, is now being misused by many girls.
In many cases it has been found that after marriage girls use this Anti-dowry Acts as a means of blackmailing their in-laws for not fulfilling all their unreasonable demands. Hence there is need to make some amendments in the Act and needs to investigate anti-dowry cases seriously.In short, no law will be able to abolish this menace. It is a social problem and can be fought on the social level alone to eradicate this social evil from the society which has penetrated its roots deep into the soil.