Today is Mothers’ day. I personally don’t agree with the concept of having a definite day to show our affection/care/love for our mother. For me, rather than making/buying cards, bouquets, flowers and sending them to our mothers, it would be more worthwhile to have a discussion on how our mothers fare. Questions like are we doing enough for our mothers, are we giving them the respect they deserve, are we taking care of their health or for that matter their safety and security in the modern society needs to be asked/discussed.
Recently a report “State of World’s Mothers” published by “Save the children” mentioned India as one of the worst places to be a mom. The blue countries fare well and are one of the best countries to be a mother. Out of 10 best, 9 are European nations. While the orange coded countries are the worst ones. India figures in one of the worse countries.
To top it all, a recent WHO report mentions that“With an estimated 50,000 deaths of pregnant women every year, India tops the global chart of countries where maximum number of mothers dies every year, overtaking several nations from Asia and Africa. The data, released by the World Health Organization (WHO) a week before Mother’s Day, shows only two countries account for a third of all global maternal deaths: India at 17 per cent (50,000) and Nigeria at 14 per cent (40,000)”
Furthermore, in India, 309,300 babies die every year within 24 hours of birth. That’s 847 per day. India makes up 29 percent of all first-day deaths around the world, part of the country’s serious issues with maternal health and care-giving. An estimated 28 percent of infants in South Asia are born underweight, which is often a product of poor maternal health and makes infant death more likely. It is also due to unusually early marriage and childbearing ages in the region – 47 percent of Indian girls marry by age 18, including 75 percent of girls in the lowest income quintile.
Another report mentions India as the worst country to be a woman among the world’s biggest economies and ranks even lower than Saudi Arabia, where women are deprived from all civil rights, a global poll of experts released a report[1]. In India, women and girls continue to be sold as chattels, married off as young as 10, burned alive as a result of dowry-related disputes and young girls exploited and abused as domestic slave labour
Thus it clearly proves that a lot more needs to be done for the safety and security of our mothers.
End word:-
Mother’s Day was born in the aftermath of the Civil War, as a rallying cry for women worldwide to oppose war and fight for social justice. But today it has become an international celebration of cards, bouquets, brunches, and gifts—a one-day mom fest that here in the U.S. has grown into a $20-billion-dollar-a-year industry. Profits of companies have taken over the radical call behind it. Thus perhaps it’s time to revisit the motive behind it and take concrete steps towards protection of our mothers. It’s about fighting injustice and creating an enabling an empowering environment for women.
(The news are sourced from various newspapers for the purpose of blogging and creating an argument)
[1] http://www.nationalturk.com/en/india-worst-place-to-be-a-woman-poll-19666