12th
June,2003
To,
President of India,
Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi INDIA
---------
His Excellency,
You are aware that two young girls shook the nation by
their bold and courageous act recently;
NISHA SHARMA in New Delhi and later
VIDYA BALASUBRAMANIAM in Mumbai.
Their achievement ---- simultaneously cancelling their
marriage and filing police complaints against the
prospective groom & their families for making extreme
materialistic demands as dowry.
Their boldness has definitely stirred the conscience
of many fellow citizens both in India and abroad
especially their peer groups, young marriageable
girls.
Yet women organisations. the promoters of women
periodicals, the politicians craving for 33%
reservation for women in Parliament and Legislative
Assembly, the audio and visual media, paid mere lip
sympathy to these honourable valiant girls.
Could it be true that women are enemies of their own
gender?
Ours is an ancient civilisation and every Indian is
proud of it. Yet the feminine gender silently suffers
the evils of child marriage, dowry deaths, rapes, ban
on widow remarriage, overwork underpaid harrasment and
cruelty, or are even forced into prostitution by
deceit or coercion.
No doubt there are many girls who even though highly
educated, have a archaic mind set. They easily
conform to the male dominated societal customs and
succumb to the avarice of their prospective husbands
in silence when it comes to dowry and will not raise a
finger until they are on the " pyre " .
Given this scenario, surely these girls deserve to be
rewarded for their heroic deeds and moreover to set
the trend for others to follow suit.
His Excellency, your "Vision 2020" for India is a
perfect road map for the future generation of this
country yet this road map carefully laid down may
remain a document in the library of the Rashtrapati
Bhavan and other educational and literary centres if
such heroic acts as shown by these two girls go
unrewarded.
It is therefore my humble appeal that the Government
of India should institute a special bravery award
named " RANI JHANSI AWARD" after that valiant lady
the Rani of Jhansi, who took on the mighty British
Empire in the 1857 mutiny.
This awards with a citation and cash amounting to
Rs.1,00,000 (Rupees one lakh only )initially should
be awarded to these young girls Nisha and Vidya.
It would also be appropriate if the State Governments
should similarly honour, those who marry these
valiant girls, by awarding them honorary titles of
"Shree Delhi" and "Shree Maharashtra" and treated them
as life time honoured state guests.
Trust this will merit your kind consideration and
necessary action.
a conscientious citizen of India,
sd/-
godfrey j. i. gonsalves
B-F-4 1st Flr, Hillside Apts
St.Joaquim Road
Borda Margao 403602 Goa INDIA.
________________________________________________________________________
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