The curse of dowry in our society

One of the deep-rooted evils in our society is the misuse of dowry. In its present form, it is an exploitation tool which families of grooms use to take undue benefits from the brides ’ families. This is in direct contradiction to Islamic concept of dowry where husband is made obligatory to take care of needs of his wife and provide with dowry as Mahr. If we start following our religion and put our own desires and love for money lower down the priority list and promote the teaching of Quran and Sunnah up the list, our lives will turn upside down. Today, dowry .has cut all barriers of caste, colour and creed. Growing materialism is responsible for the custom of dowry becoming moil widespread. People have become more materialistic. Values have changed Money has become the yardstick to judge a man. Human greed has become limitless. Human life is sacrificed at the altar of greed without any qualms. Dowry has reduced the status of women to that of a commodity, a commodity, available in the market with so much cash and gifts. The grooms have also become a saleable commodity available at such a price, earning so many amounts per month. The rates of dowry have been fixed for the grooms of different categories- Doctors, Engineers. Bank officers, govt.
Affecting Career of Women: The larger context for the practice of dowry is the poor presence of women in the workforce, and their consequent lack of financial independence. The Poorer sections of society who send their daughters out to work and earn some money, to help them save up for her dowry.
The regular middle and upper class Gender Discrimination : Due to the dowry system, many a times it has been seen that women are seen as a liability and are often subjected to subjugation and are given second hand treatment may it be in education or other amenities.
Affecting Career of Women : The larger context for the practice of dowry is the poor presence of women in the workforce, and their consequent lack of financial independence. The regular middle and upper class backgrounds do send their daughters to school, but don’t emphasize career options. Many Women End Up Being Unmarried: An uncountable number of girls in the country, despite being educated and professionally competent, remain endlessly unmarried because their parents cannot fulfil the demand for pre-marriage dowry.
Objectification of women: Contemporary dowry is more like an investment by the bride’s family for plugging into powerful connections and money making opportunities.
Crime against women: In some cases, the dowry system leads to crime against women, ranging from emotional abuse and injury to even deaths. The need of hour is the social awareness at least among the females. More stringent laws, more awareness, more education to the girls, more self dependence of the girls and a social awakening can only curb this ever increasing evil .In order to root out the evil of dowry from the society, we shall have to build up a strong public opinion against it. Boys and girls in schools and colleges should be made to take a pledge that they would neither seek nor give dowry.
(The author is pursuing masters in EVS through IGNOU. Views are his own)
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