Height of Cruelty...

What is the future of society that dumps
the CREATOR OF LIFE in well???

Come on..Wake up Now! If not now then when?

SAVE THE GIRL CHILD! EMPOWER THE GIRL CHILD!
STOP FEMALE FOETICIDE!
A CLARION CALL
BY
ANANDMURTI GURUMAA

Comment by Anu...

It is indeed disgusting to see this treatment given to the girl child even before she is born. I feel this is a serious lack of education (not literacy) in our country. Women are treated like commodities, so probably even ill treated mothers do not want to give birth to girl children and put them through the same misery that they have undergone. The girl child is always considered as a burden, getting her married and paying dowry seems to bog down fathers the moment she is born. She is never treated as a form of goddess Durga that she is and the mother goddess and that this country celebrates with such zeal. What can be the solution to this problem? Stringent laws? education for the mothers to be? heavy punishment for such henious crimes? do share your thoughts

We are at RISK!

Two million foetuses are killed every year through abortion, simply because they are female. - BBC News


Just a sneak peek into the gravity of the imbalance created in the society. Here is the snapshot of the drastic decline in the number of girls as per census 1991-2001 in Haryana, one of the states where the crime of female foeticide is widely practiced. What you see in red shows that the number of girls has gone below 800 for every 1000 boys. What do you think happened to those girls? Very simple...They have been killed! But for what? For your preference of sons...

What do you think is the solution?
Save Girls! Stop Female Foeticide! Under the guided presence of an enlightened master, Anandmurti Gurumaa, Shakti is making a genuine effort to stop this genocide, educate masses about the prevalance of evil practicies like female foeticide and infanticide, and awaken them to the reality of growing disparity in the over all ratio in female-male. If we don't pay attention to this now then it will lead to unmanageable consequences and it will become impossible to make up for the missing girls.

Shakti is a Clarion Call to wake up to the alarming situation, stop the femicide, put an end to the discriminatory treatment given to the girl child, and empower them with education. No parents have the right to kill the girl child. It is agonising to note that the major reason of resorting to the femicide is the preference for sons. Society needs to get rid of this age-old conditoning. Girls support family more than sons do. Girls should be given a chance to live. It's high time now to wake up and not to kill the womb of a mother.

And by providing education to the girls-Shakti is creating a bright future where girls become a pride for parents and nation at large. We have examples of girls scaling heights and becoming great achievers. There are many such examples in our society such as Sania Mirza, Kiran Bedi, Shabana Azmi, Sushmita Sen and Lata Mangeshkar. This has been possible only with education. Educated girls make a better world!

Comment by Anu...

June 5, 2007 7:43 AM

Thanks for publishing the facts and figures related to female infanticide in our country . I hope that more and more people will become aware of the crimes being committed as they see these alarming figures.

A Glimpse of Reality

By Anandmurti Gurumaa

Woman - An embodiment of love & compassion

Woman is an embodiment of love, grace, and compassion; understanding, balanced, sharp, witty, beautiful, and artistic. We can go on and on and still the essence of woman hood will be difficult to define. She creates, she nurtures, she supports, she loves, and she is a power house! But it is extremely agonizing to see her being deprived of the very right to live. Yes, it’s true! The Indian society considers the birth of girl child as a matter of disgrace which has lead to the prevalence of horrid practices like female infanticide and female foeticide.

Perils of technological advancement

The modern technology which was designed to detect any of the gender related congenital abnormality of the foetus is now being widely abused to detect the sex of the foetus with the intention of getting it aborted if it happens to be that of a female. Killing of girls by forcing a sand bag on their face or by throttling within hours of being born is not a rare phenomenon besides the practice of pre-birth-elimination of female foetuses. And the major cause of more women resorting to this practice is because of their preference for sons.

Killing girls because of the age old myths

It is unfortunate that our society prefers sons just because of the myth that they carry forward the name and tradition of the family; they are considered a source of support during old age and for performing religious rites at the time of cremation and subsequently. This entire rubbish ness is instilled in the minds of children too, right from their childhood; girls are given the discriminatory treatment, boys are given preference, and the evil practices continue unabated across India.

Alarming Decline in Sex ratio

We have indeed come a long way but unfortunately towards creating an imbalance in our society. The 2001 census showed evidence that across India there had been a sharp decline in the number of female children. "It’s an urban phenomenon, but what is worrying is that it is spreading to rural areas now as the technology spreads,"

According to the report of United Nation Population Fund, Key findings include:

A national decline from 945 to 927 in the number of girls per 1,000 boys aged 0-6 between 1991 and 2001.

1981-91 census shows 1.37 crore more boys than girls. 2001 census shows there are 42 crore children, with boys outnumbering girls by 1.98 crores.

A grave situation in states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat where the ratio has drastically declined to fewer than 800 girls for every 1,000 boys.

A low child sex ratio in certain districts, including the South West District of Delhi, which are "amongst the most prosperous in the country".
Experts predict that if the trend continues, and reaches the dangerous levels of Haryana or Punjab, the Indian society will have to grapple with severe problems including spiraling crime, trafficking of women and related social problems.

A wake up call for all of us

Preference for sons shall not disappear until girls are empowered as much as boys. Empowering the girl child through education is an indispensable tool to curb the growing menace of gender inequality, declining sex ratio, and discriminatory treatment given to women in India. Empowered woman is strong enough to stand as a support for her family and community at large. She further contributes to the prospects of next generation.

The need of the hour is to raise voice against the killing of girls and make a collective effort to stop this genocide.

'Every woman is an epitome of Shakti- Power’, and should realize this.'

Shakti was launched four years ago, at Amritsar, Punjab. It is a national level program which addresses the above social causes and provides for free scholarships upto senior secondary level to daughters of handicapped parents, widows and war martyrs irrespective of their religious background, caste and language.


Steps taken by Shakti - An initiative to empower the girl child

As of today, 125+ girls are progressing towards their bright future through the Shakti programme. They are provided with annual scholarships to complete their education up to 12th standard.

In the pursuit to empower the girl child, 5 students(girls) of B-Pharmacy, Sonipat; and 30 girl students of Institute of Nursing education, Ludhiana are also being provided financial support to complete their education. These girls have come from rural areas to pursue their education.

Every year special meditation camps are organized for the students in the confines of Gurumaa Ashram, under the directions of Gurumaa Ji. During these residential meditation camps Gurumaa Ji herself introduces these students to various types of meditation techniques. These meditation camps have been very beneficial for the over all growth of students; higher creativity, increased intelligence, improved memory, reduction in stress levels, and increased self confidence.

The training for self defense encompassing basic health regime by qualified professionals, career counseling to acquaint the students about the array of choices available to them, and complete knowledge about different institutes offering professional courses forms part of these meditation camps.

New innovation in Shakti

CEAP –Computer Education Awareness Programme
CEAP, a new dimension to Shakti has enthusiastically embarked on the journey to create awareness about the significance of computers, to the girls of Govt. Schools in Sonipat. Under CEAP around 1500 girls have got their first exposure to the utility of computer including internet and knowledge about its basic functions.

The goal of this programme is to open a well equipped computer institute whereby the short term computer courses can be provided to the girls absolutely at no charge. We further envisage liaising with various organizations in order to offer employment opportunities to these girls.

Let’s come together!

The aim is to bring forth the stark illustrations of reality, and awaken the people to come together and combat the evil-practices prevalent in the society. It is our responsibility to take action against this inhuman treatment.

Join Hands with SHAKTI!

SAVE GIRLS! EMPOWER GIRLS!

Comment by Anu...
June 5, 2007 7:47 AM

Hi, It is very encouraging to see the activities under the Shakti program and how little girls are getting a new leash of life . I was wondering if there could be some program under Shakti which can also stop infanticide from happening in the first place. Like door to door education for families or any action program which can monitor feoticide hotspots to prevent these crimes from happening? Do share your thoughts on this.

SHAKTI CHARITY FUNCTION

By Maggie Mavi

Shakti Charity Evening
Venue : Walsall, UK
Date: 12th July 2006
Time: 6 – 10 pm

I had been inspired to arrange a Shakti Charity Function and was given this opportunity, only after meeting Her Holiness Anandmurti Gurumaa, in April 2006. I had always thought, it was very important to educate females as they raise the standards of the society. Now I had the perfect opportunity to do something and help make a difference. As I felt the urgency to do something for all those females, who just do not get the chance in life. But this was that wonderful way of helping in my own little way…so that those children too would get the only chance in their life , to do something and become something. I surprised myself and found raw energy that I was not aware off before.


After having looked at all the options, it was decided to keep it as a Ladies Garden Party, all evening , in my house. Each one entering the gates had to bring a ticket which had a nominal fee , that all went to the charity.

The function was held in the evening, where a number of stalls selling small items like jewellery, make up, clothes and mehndi were being sold. The profits made were given to the charity fund.





The food was provided by friends and a caterer for free and the tent was heavily subsided. All my family and friends chipped in , where each played their important role to help make the night a success. Raffle prizes were donated and tickets sold …each helping to raise money for Shakti.

Two amazing dances were performed by two talented girls to bring in awe to the evening.

Finally a small speech was made by me , informing the audience of this worthy cause of how girls would be given the opportunity for a full school education and how important it was for us to help this worthy cause. As only with everyone’s help can these girls be given that opportunity of a life time.

It is Gurumaaji’s wish that the-- entire womankind get the message to live with HONOR, PRIDE and STRENGTH.

Comment by Jaz Tagar

I would like to say thank you to maggie mavi for inviting me to her charity function at her house. It was so nice to see that so many people attended and supported shakti charity. JAZ TAGAR

Comment by Pat Kirby

It was a lovely summer evening. The hostess Maggie Mavi, made us feel most welcome and everyone was very friendly. An assortment of food to satisfy everyones palate was displayed. A lovely evening was had by all.