The News Minute Editorial | January 7, 2015 | 11.45 am IST
Its all very well for Sakshi Maharaj to ask Hindu women (or any woman for that matter) to have at least four children. He is firstly a man, and second, a saint who is expected to be celibate. Even better, he makes these remarks at a gathering of saints, who also, presumably, have taken vows to be celibate like Sakshi Maharaj.This said, it is a somewhat perplexing as to how the man misunderstood what the prime minister had in mind when he said ‘Make in India’.
Maharaj’s invitation / diktat to Indian Hindu women to produce four children each can only add to the already difficult population situation in India, but that's just an irritating detail. Things will sort themselves out in the wrong run when most of us will be dead.
For now it is hum do, hamare char.
But wait, we won't die in vain. We can sit in a tub of ghee which will ensure that we produce stem cells from our ears which can then be cloned. Complex things in life have such easy explanations, especially if you listen to Sakshi Maharaj.
How about if Sakhsi Maharaj listens to women for a change? Leave aside all the cuteness and awe associated with little babies, the miracle of child birth and yes, life-altering experiences.
No one could deny the sheer pain and anxiety associated with childbirth, no matter how much a couple (just to make Maharaj squirm, we’re including gay and lesbian couples here as well) may want a child.
For instance according to a UN report, India accounts for the maximum number of maternal deaths in the world in 2013 which is nearly 50,000 of the total 2.89 lakh women who died of pregnancy or child birth complications, reported Indian Express.
Even though India has shown a remarkable improvement in controlling maternal mortality rate (MMR) - a 65 per cent drop since 1990 -, the MMR levels are far behind compared to UN’s Millennium Development Goal of bringing a 75 per cent decline in these levels by 2015.
Comparitively, China which currently has the largest population in the world reported 5,900 maternal deaths in 2013, an occurrence mainly attributed to the country’s one-child policy.
According to Save the Children’s Mother’s Index, which “assesses the well-being of mothers and children in 178 countries (46 developed, and 132 developing) , India came 137th in 2014.
So here’s some advice for Sakshi Maharaj.
Practice what you preach. And since you are technically cannot, and are biologically incapable of giving birth, you can go to a hospital in China. We’re sure that a lot of people would help to get you a crowd fund approved.
Fighting over religion has been going on for ages in our country, but leaders need to be careful about misleading or encouraging trends that could be detrimental to personal health and the well-being of the nation in general.
Decisions on child-birth are usually a personal choice. You might think such statements are insignificant, however, for some who go by the words of their leaders, such ideas can be quite dangerous.
The hospital in China artificially re-creates the sensations of childbirth and labour pain so that men can get an idea of what it is like. So far, around 300 men have signed up. Unlike you, you see, they want to empathise with another human being, and understand what people they love go through. Would you know what means? To love?
But we are assuming that all children are wanted. In a country where most marriages happen with discussions of caste, jobs, and how much money there is, who talks about love? Or even friendship between couples for that matter? So who’s going to look after the children with love? Then there is the skewed sex ratio in the country. I suppose Sakshi Maharaj had too much on his mind to specify how many of “minimum of four children” should be girls and how many boys.
Lastly, we have one question for you, Sakhsi Maharaj.
Despite the various calculations and methodologies, everyone agrees that there are just too many poor people in India. So many of them live on the streets. Have you ever thought about how those men and women look after their babies on the streets? Do you even know how many times a baby pees and poops in a day? Can you imagine them trying to cope with all that when they barely have enough water to drink.