Haryana town dedicates Lohri to girl child

KARNAL - The state may be infamous for its skewed sex ratio of 824 females per 1,000 males, but some in this town tried to make a difference with a special Lohri celebration dedicated to all daughters.

At the special celebration ‘Lohri Beti Ke Naam’ (Lohri in the name of the daughter) organised here Thursday by the National Integrated Forum of Artistes and Activists (NIFAA), 2,100 girls, all aged below one year and most in prams, came with their mothers.

Film directors Mahesh Bhatt and Satish Kaushik also attended the celebrations of the harvest festival to promote the cause for the girl child and the campaign against female foeticide.

Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia said every effort must be made to contain the adverse sex ratio in the state. He regretted that despite efforts in the recent years, the sex ratio of girls in Haryana remained low.

Sarpanches (village heads) from 23 villages in Haryana, where the birth rate of girls was more than that of boys, were specially honoured at the event.

“The success of these villages (which were honoured) should serve as an example for others to follow. I am ready to campaign anywhere against female foeticide,” Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt said.

“The campaign against female foeticide should be a mass movement,” director Satish Kaushik said.