NEW DELHI- A Muslim cleric from Uttar Pradesh has issued a fatwa against female foeticide.
A sharp drop in the sex ratio according to latest census figures, which has fallen to 899 from 916 against every 1,000 males registered in 2001, led to the issue of the fatwa.
“Even though the [state] law does not permit abortion, people are openly violating the rules and getting their female child aborted across Uttar Pradesh,” said the imam.
The latest provisional census figures issued are alarming due to a sharp decline in the female child birth rate in 63 out of 71 districts of the state. While Uttar Pradesh’s population has grown by 30 million over the past decade, the number of female children in the 0-6 years age group has declined by what tallies as one million girls.
“Abortion is strictly banned under Islam and the latest census report has clearly shown that it was female foeticide that has led to a disproportion between the male and female population in the state. I, therefore, feel that timely action alone can save the situation from turning worse,” the Islamic cleric was quoted as saying.
El Sheikh Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani has cited modern day female foeticide as being worse in practice than pre-Islamic Arabia that saw infant girls abducted from the mother by her husband or male relatives and buried alive. Today, lamentably, it is the choice of the woman herself to kill her unborn child or children .
– The information in this report was sourced from Gulf News
