At the Sishu Bitan School in Behala Sarsuna, Kolkata, on November 22, around twenty persons gathered for a seminar on abortion.

Viswakamal activist Hitangshu opened the meeting. Dr. Prankrishna Mukherjee, the guest of honour, explained some medical and sociological aspects of abortion.

WhatsApp Video 2020-11-23 at 07.07.16 Prankrishna, Sailen [the video at this link is temporarily malfunctioning, but the others in this post are functioning]

Then Sailen Modak was introduced. He spoke about the activities and efforts of Viswakamal that he has been seeing over the last seven years – not only activities in different parts of West Bengal, but also activities by people living in Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, etc., who have come in contact with Viswakamal and have taken an oath to make people aware of the inhumane tendency of abortion sometimes hidden within them, and to appeal to them to become more humane. Their different activities include postering, leafleting, small-gathering seminars, and sometimes taking their leaflets door to door. Viswakamal members stand always at the side of pregnant women who are either confused or under pressure of circumstances.

Pranati Pal said that before joining Viswakamal, she had already done similar work while with another NGO. They had gone door to door to convince people that abortion is wrong and should be considered a crime. It adversely affects the health of the mother also. If people are confused about what to do or not to do, they should contact Viswakamal. We will maintain confidentiality, and if necessary place the baby once it is born.

Viswakamal activist Swagata then spoke about the mother instinct. Many women, perhaps most, desire to raise a family under ideal marital and economic circumstances, but a true mother is one who has a fierce determination to care for whatever children she may have, born or unborn, even under adverse circumstances. She concluded by declaring that Viswakamal is ready to help with unwanted pregnancies.

WhatsApp Video 2020-11-23 at 07.07.16 Swagata

The YouTube documentary “It’s A Girl” bares the reality of the sex-selective abortion and infanticide, together called “gendercide”, that target girls in India and China. In those two countries, parents have long preferred boys over girls, but before the invention of ultrasound, the sex was not known till birth. Some parents would kill girls after birth, but to do so they would have to see the face of the child they were killing, which would cause them extreme guilt. So the rate of such infanticide was never more than 4%. With the invention of ultrasound, however, it became possible to determine the sex (gender) of the child while it was still in the womb, when the killing could be done invisibly. Parents somehow feel less guilt about such killings. The parents do not have to see what they’re doing. So at present, up to 30% of girls are killed in certain parts of India.

The documentary is half about India and half about China. We watched most of the portion about India. Then it was explained, however, that even if we successfully change the mentality that leads to sex-selective abortion (gendercide), that will not save most of the unborn girls who are aborted. To save most of them, we must greatly reduce the number of abortions overall, regardless of gender.

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Two members of the audience asked some good questions, and Viswakamal people replied on the basis of their thinking and experience.