Daughters of Bharat have the right to live". Aamir Khan's voice echoed with emotion as he spoke about the evil malpractice of female feticide rampant in India in the first episode of 'Satyamev Jayate'. Millions of people across India were glued to their television sets on Sunday to watch Aamir Khan's much hyped show in recent times and rightly so! A raging craze on social networking sites and a trending topic amongst film celebrities and viewers alike, 'Satyamev Jayate' hit the right chords. As the show says, 'jab dil pe lagti hain, toh baat banti hain'.
Although Aamir chose to make his TV debut with a serious theme based show, he's managed to do what other celebrities haven't done so far: talking about the 'aam janta'. Aamir Khan is 'THE' man who manages to bring out the tears and emotions from audiences and participants, not afraid to shed a few of his own.
In a country that worships female gods as 'maa' in her many avatars, it's disgusting and scary to think that India rates high on the list of countries still practicing female feticide!
The show begins with Aamir introducing three women who were the victims of female feticide: Parveen Khan from Madhya Pradesh, Mitu Khurana from Delhi and Amisha Yagnik from Ahmedabad. Each of these women were brutally forced to abort their girl child and in the case of Parveen Khan, her husband mauled her face, getting down to cannibalism. For Doctor Ritu Khurana who belongs to an educated family of professors and doctors, it was a nightmare to watch her mother in law push her new born daughter down a flight of stairs. Amisha Yagnik went through six abortions in eight years when she was cleverly tricked by her husband and in-laws to go for an ultrasound. Without her knowledge, she was given an injection that killed her unborn babies. She even said that the unknown abortion felt like murder.
But these women courageously spoke up on national television and Parveen and Amisha even walked out of their marriages to become independent working women supporting their children. Aamir had a message for the country when he said that the child's sex in determined by the male sperm and not by the female and hence, only the men should be blamed.
Known for his genuine and well researched content- Aamir brought in doctors, social workers and journalists to further educate the masses on this theme. Dr. Puneet Bedi started with the history of Ultrasound machines which were introduced to India in the 1990's. Before that, there was no way to determine the sex of the child, a practice still considered illegal in India. But with the introduction of Ultrasound, government officials and doctors in states like Rajasthan started encouraging families to curb the population explosion by opting for an ultrasound as a solution to determine the child's sex and abort the female fetus. In this way, the population problem could be curbed.
Dr. Agrawal from Rajasthan spoke about the 'adivasi' people who were happy to have girl children as compared to their urabn counterparts- the so called educated CAs, IPS officers, Doctors and lawyers who supported female feticide. Social worker Ram Babu Bhatt, a researcher on this topic aid that this happens amongst the 'buddhi jeevi' people of India.
Journalists Meena Sharma and Shripal Shaktawat did a wonderful sting operation where they covered 13, 000 kms and caught 140 doctors on their hidden camera who supported this evil. The operation further showed that these doctors were lauded for their efforts and were even promoted instead of their licenses being cancelled. A comparison was made to Korea where such practices were initially rampant but was stopped when the government decided to cancel the doctors licenses.
What further unfolded on the episode was the nexus between government officials and doctors, families and salesman selling ultrasound machines, who have managed to make this into a profitable 2000-3000 crores industry! Later in the episode, Aamir was seen interacting with bachelors from Haryana who said it was difficult to get brides. Instantly, one could relate to the show 'Na Aana Is Des Laado' on Colors TV which first brought this practice to light on TV.
In his interaction, audiences learnt about another horrifying reality of India: bride trafficking where women were bought in states like Bihar and Karnataka for a cheap amount. Robbed of their dignity and respect, these women were also raped by the other male members of the house. But the show was not all gloomy. It was a delight to learn that states like Punjab have seen a rise in the female vs. male ratio from 2001-2011.
Towards the end, Aamir appealed to the masses to unite and request the Govt. of Rajasthan to set up a special court for speedy trials for female feticide cases that have been pending in different courts of the state over the years. Especially when the judges of our country support this practice by saying they see nothing wrong in female feticide. After all, every family needs a male 'vansh'.
'Satyamev Jayate' is not just a talk show, it's a battle against the evil practices prevailing in India, an appeal to the masses to unite together to fight against crime. Aamir is not the 'Oprah Winfrey' of India as dubbed by many across the country. He's an original! A thumbs up to the entire team for the effort, research, music and concern over India's much ignored malpractices. This one's a sure shot winner. With 12 episodes still left, any guesses on what subjects will be covered next?
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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