Kashmir's killing fields are also in the womb

Here’s a fact about Kashmir you may not be aware of. We know all about the loss of life through terrorism and the resultant state repression. But Kashmiris are doing much of the killing themselves - in the womb. The state tops the list of those reporting a dramatic increase in female foeticide.

Between 2001 and 2011, the child sex ratio in Jammu & Kashmir dropped like a stone from 941 to 859 - the biggest drop in India. The ratio, which measures the number of girls per 1,000 boys in the 0-6 age group, is indicative of a strong bias against girl children.

Kashmir, unfortunately, is not alone in this gender bias.

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The 2011 census data reflect not only a continued preference for the male child, but an increasing one in many states. For the country as a whole, the child sex ratio deteriorated from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011.

A regional bias against the girl child is hard to miss, with the northern states of Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir having the worst child sex ratios, in that order. But while Haryana and Punjab are at least reversing their earlier extreme biases, Kashmir is going the other way. Haryana has shown a mild improvement over the decade, and Punjab has shown substantially better results, with the ratio improving from 798 in 2001 to 846 in 2011. Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are two other states that have seen some improvement, if only marginal, in the child sex ratios in 2011.

That said, an unfortunate deterioration in the child sex ratio is seen for the remaining six states that figure on the 10-worst performing states on the parameter from 2001 to 2011. Jammu & Kashmir has shown the sharpest decline, making it the third worst performing state. Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are the other three states with a deterioration in the child sex ratio.

It is perhaps no surprise that this deterioration coincides with foeticides being the fastest rising crime against children as per the latest available figures.

Note: (i) Highlighted rows indicate states that have shown an improvement in child sex ratios

(ii) We have covered only states (and not UTs) for this analysis