Kashmir's skewed sex ratio

Original Source:http://theparallelpost.com/narratives/featured-articles/589-kashmir-s-skewed-sex-ratio.html

The 2011 Census data on sex ratio and especially the child sex ratio in Jammu and Kashmir showed a marked decline. The figures have been contested by the government as well as academics but the moot question remains whether girls are being silently killed in J&K. There is also a larger question of whether the reflection of changing social mores in Kashmiri society is leading to social evils, as some sociologists believe.

The 2011 data showed that the sex ratio in Jammu and Kashmir is 883 per 1000 males and has decreased since 2001 when it was 900 per 1000 males. The child sex ratio saw a sharp fall from 964 girls per 1000 boys in the 2001 Census to 862 girls per 1000 boys in the 2011 Census. While the state government repudiated the 2011 Census data, some academics raised doubts over the reliability of the data.

Sociologist Bashir Ahmed Dabla has raised doubts about the scientific methodology. “As per population trends of J&K, there has been an increase in the male and female population but the data does not reflect that trend.” Dr Dabla, head of department of Sociology at the University of Kashmir, says, “Any study will reflect population trends. However the census figures for J&K do not reflect the population trends.” Dr Dabla says in 1991, the state government had carried out its own census in three districts of Kashmir which showed a 2-3% difference from the official figures. He argues that given the conflict situation in Kashmir, data cannot be reliably collected. 

However Peerzada Mohammed Amin, head of department of Social Work at the University of Kashmir, says changes taking place in Kashmiri society are largely responsible for the skewed sex ratio. Dr Amin blames the increasing grip of materialism on Kashmiri society and loosening of religious and cultural norms. “The institution of marriage and family are losing efficacy. Problems like dowry and dowry deaths, divorces, extra-marital affairs are on the rise,” he says.

“Marriage in Kashmir has become a costly affair, it is a status symbol and people are forced to spend lavishly and even take loans. Added to this, waywardness and permissiveness in society are growing and in these circumstances, parents think it is better not to keep a girl child,” he contends.

Dr Gul Afroz, assistant professor at the Central University’s Law Department agrees that changing social norms are putting pressure in the societal fabric. “We can believe that the data is manipulated but we cannot wish away the reality that female foeticide is happening. We are silently killing our girls.” As part of her research in 2007, Dr Afroz tracked 100 pregnant women to asses if the scourge of female foeticide was prevalent.

“I found that women were going in for sex determination tests and abortions. Nurses and ultrasound technologists would do abortions of girls who got pregnant out of marriage but also for those who wanted to abort a girl foetus.” Dr Afroz says poverty or illiteracy are not the reasons for foeticide. “Even the rich and educated are getting sex selective abortions done. I found that insecurity about safety of girls and concerns about putting together a hefty dowry for them have a role to play.”

 With the state government coming in for flak, it set up a Task Force to study reasons for the decline in the sex ratio. Officials blamed social stigma about girl child, paternal lineage, poverty and illiteracy as main cause for the decline. In October 2013, the government said in the state assembly that during 2013-14, the child sex ratio in the Jammu division had improved to 908 and in Kashmir division to 967.