Say no to dowry
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
India is a land of diversity, with many beautiful states representing unity, culture traditions etc. I am very proud and glad to be an Indian. Recently from my home state of kerala I heard a lots of violence and many attrocities commited against women. And the most recent one had happened in my district of Kollam. The society called this ugly system- ‘dowry’.
Actually I was so curious to know about this. And I came to know that people have been practicing it for many decades. Dowry is nothing but the transfer of parental properties, gifts or money upon the marriage of a daughter. And the funniest thing is, as the groom’s job, wealth and family heritage increases the weightage of dowry also increases. Here the girl’s education, job or family heritage is not being considered.
Some men who were married have tortured their wives as they are not happy with the dowry they have received. Some even killed or forced their wives to die. Even though there are laws and acts, the government doesn’t pay any heed or give the deserved punishment to the crime committers. Dowry is like buisness for the groom’s family, in ancient times it was only for the upper caste families but now it has become unviersal. Usually dowry was given to the groom or the groom’s family for looking after the bride, but we can’t agree with that poilicy. The bride’s family had to take loans from the banks, sell their assets and give of their land and other properties.
In India it has been considered as a crime. Poor people started killing their daughters as they know that they have to give money to the groom’s family if their daughter get’s married (it has been reported in some places of India). Women were suppressed by this system and many of them attempted suicide. Dowry has become a nightmare for women, as they get harassed by their husbends for wealth and money. It is estimated that 8000 women were killed because of dowry system. Dowry system doesn’t give women equal rights in the society. It makes men superior to women. Dowry can flame things up as it is now followed as a tradition. Men don’t even care about their wives they just want to get the money and all the gifts.This system had been there in India for a long time, after the British left it had just increased.
This system allows a lot of domestic violence and this goes unreported throughout the nation. We presume that dowry takes place only in rural areas but the truth is that, it takes place in cities and urban areas. It is mostly the well-educated families, who expect dowries would expand their wealth. There have been several amendments made to the Dowry Act in 1983 and this act has few faults.
When we were children we were taught good manners by our parents, and one of them was, ‘say thank you’ and never judge the gift that another person has given to you. Nerver critizice it on its appearance, shape, and colour. Whatever it maybe, we don’t have the right to say that it is ‘worthless’, because it is their gift. But after we grow why do our parents change their attitude towards these things?? Why does the groom’s family force the groom to judge the dowry they have acquired??
At school all the boys and girls are equal, they eat the same food, they study in the same classroom, they are being teached by the teacher in the same way, but after 18, what speciality can be seen in a boy, than in a girl. What is the reason to downgrade a girl after she completes her education.
To stop this, first we have to spread awarness to the parents and to their growing children. For this, educate them how to behave towards women. The government should kill or punish the ones who did these things, and bring justice to the victim. We know lots of people are trying to bring equality among men and women.
So to conclude, giving or taking dowry is bad. And forcing to give it is terrible. Let’s hope that with in a few years this evil system will sweep away from our society. “Any young man, who makes dowry a condition to marriage, discredits his education and his country and dishonours womanhood”- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
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