Impressed by their stories of courage, President invites them to Rashtrapati Bhavan
Economic progress is not the only indicator of a country's development, a nation requires its people to show courage against social pressures and overcome social evils, said President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Wednesday after meeting five teenagers from West Bengal who fought social and family pressure and resisted child marriage.
The girls, with little education and almost no support, turned down marriage proposals and faced the anger of their families and the community. Their stories of courage impressed the President so much that she got them invited to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
They earned praise from the President, who described them as “icons” and asked them to share their stories and encourage girls to say no to under-age marriages.
For Afsana and Sunita, it was their second meeting with the President who encouraged them to campaign against child marriage among their peers.
Ms. Patil asked them to propagate the idea of eradicating social evils. She said the government had a number of schemes for the girl child, to encourage their education and though there are schools in distant villages, the onus now lies on the parents to send their girls to school.
While education opens up new avenues for the girl child, an early marriage brings with it a cycle of misery, poor health and poverty, she said. A young mother with children often become victim of poor health and mortality. She urged the district authorities to create more awareness of what the girls have done by taking them on a tour of their district during their school holidays to inspire others.
Ms. Patil urged the girls to encourage others through stories and to stand up against social evils. The President also presented the girls with a cash purse. While Sangita Bauri, Bina Kalindi and Mukti Majhi were presented Rs.10,000 each, Afsana and Sunita were given Rs. 5,000 each.
“It is a very big honour to be here and meet the President. The last time we were here in 2008, before leaving home we were taunted by the community members. But when we returned with Madam's [President] blessings, everyone was impressed,” said Afsana, a Class VI student who hit the headlines in 2008 for calling off her wedding.
Having just finished my second trip to India, in October, after an 8 year absence and I am amazed that the issue of under age marriage is still being discussed. On my latest trip I saw many advancements in the overall conditions of the poor and the marginalized. It apperaed that more young woman, of poorer families, were being encourgaed to attend, and in fact were attending, school. Removing sexual disparity is imparitive to allow India to be recognized as a world leader in industry, commerce and most important , the overall well being of India's peoples.Bravo to these brave young girls! Hopefully their courageous action will be the ground swell to a new social revolution that embraces equity for all. My love of India will grow even greater knowing there is a future for all people, an India that is progressive and intolerant of all forms of oppression.
Before Social Progress all other progress need to take a back seat
particularly when it is a question of the lives of very young girls.
The Government's Social Welfare Ministry which has been paying only lip service to its miserable attempts to eradicate this Social Evil of Child Marriages,needs to get its act together on a war front.Stray incidents such as the cases of these five little brave girls apart,the
Government should have a committed person to head the Ministry who can give a direction to the officers and other workers under them.No
amount of progress on other fronts like the Economic,Military,Export,
Industrialisation etc will have any meaning without a simultaneous
advancement in this area too,to ensure a better life.
This is indeed a very good way in order to eradicate child marriage in India.
Salute to these courageous girls. Hopefully, corrupt indian politicians will learn something from these little girls.
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