The Sikh Human Rights Group

The Sikh Human Rights Group was formed nearly 25 years ago as a result of Human Rights Violations in Punjab, India. It was decided in 2005 that the group will take on a new project of addressing the issues of gender inequalities in light of growing concerns over the decline of the birth of baby girls in Punjab and the consequences of this.

The sex ratio gap is widening. In order to curb infant mortality rates, deaths in labour, deaths of expectant
mothers as a result of quack medical advice, high rates of baby girls being left abandoned and unclaimed, dowry deaths, suicide, depression, polygamy, child marriages, and other such injustices against the female that start from before her birth. SHRG work to raise awareness that such issues are taking place even today. Support should be made available to those that are encouraged and pressurised to have sons.

SHRG tackles gender inequality - specifically, foeticide and infanticide. Foeticide is the term used to describe
the action of killing of the female foetus; infanticide is the killing of the baby girl after birth. The problem is
widespread in India and as a result is mirrored in the foreign countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada
and other places where first and second generation Indians reside.

This particular project will address foeticide, infanticide and gender inequalities under the wider umbrella
of violence against women. The focus will remain within the Sikh community with research into other nationalities for background research purposes.

It is widely believed that non-Indian residents are returning to India for easily accessible sex determination
testing and abortions, despite these acts being illegal in India. Legislative history: In 1971 abortions were legalised under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act in India. Indian citizens took advantage of this law by aborting their female foetuses. In 1994 the Pre Natal Diagnostic  Techniques Act (PNDT) was passed and it became illegal to have conduct or undergo pre-sex determination testing to assess the gender of the foetus. Hence it was made illegal for Doctors and Sonographers’ to disclose the gender of the unborn child to the parents, unless for assessment of foetal abnormality.

Convictions are low throughout India, despite the government’s attempts to bring about social and cultural reforms. The last formal statistics collated through the Indian Census of 2001 reveal the sex ratio of females per 1,000 males is:
The worst affected State within India is Punjab. 
The last recorded statistics are of 793 females born to 1,000 males; followed closely by Haryana with a sex
ratio of 830 to 1,000; Chandighar with 845, Delhi 865 and Gujarat with 878 females per 1,000 males.
Punjab - the home to many Sikh shrines - displays the biggest problems

“From a temporal and spiritual point of view, Woman is half man’s body and assists him to the door of final
liberation” - Bhai Gurdass Ji, Vaar 5, Pauri 16

(Kiran Kaur, Independent Human Resources Consultant, works for the Sikh Human Rights Group on a voluntary basis and has spent the last 3 years devoted to researching gender inequality in Punjab and amongst Sikhs in particular. Regular speaker in British media, NGO seminars, briefings to Government personnel).