‘Women responsible for foeticide’, repeats AIWC chief, then backtracks
A meeting to prepare women for the upcoming Women’s Reservation Bill by the All India Women Congress (AIWC) turned out to be an exercise in woman bashing, ending with a free-for-all between two rival groups on Monday.
Newly appointed AIWC president Anita Verma set the tone for the day through a press release which said, “Women alone are responsible for female foeticide.”
Verma, in the press statement, blamed women for agreeing to abort a female foetus under pressure from husband and in-laws. The statement said it starts with a woman — the mother-in-law is usually the first to ask for s*x determination tests and abortion — and ends with a woman who agrees to abort the girl child and becomes a party to the crime.
However, Verma later disowned the press statement. “I have not issued this statement. The words — women alone responsible for female foeticide — is a mischief played by someone,” she said.
The private public relations firm which had released the press note said it had put it together for the press conference and the note had been faxed to Punjab Mahila Congress president Ratna for approval. “It was released only after being screened,” said the firm’s director.
The AIWC president, meanwhile, had more nuggets of advice on why a girl child should be more desirable. “I am a mother of two daughters. I will get two well-settled sons-in-law. So, as mothers of daughters, one is also relieved of the bigger tension of settling sons",she said.
Verma went on to say that a major focus of the Mahila Congress, as the Women Reservation Bill awaits nod of Parliament, is to ensure that women sarpanches get power in their hands. “More often than not, it is their husbands who call the shots. Most of the times, women do not know who to approach to get works done. The vision of the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was to empower women. But, it is the husbands who wield the power,” she said, adding that the Bill will ensure 50 per cent reservation to women in local bodies and panchayats.