Raj Khaira (a lawyer by trade) started a movement called the Pink Ladoo Project, to achieve a personal mission of eradicating South Asian gender biased customs, traditions and practices. This movement has made waves across the globe, including Australia, Canada and the USA. Through this project, South Asians are encouraged to change the dialogue and behaviour that surrounds the birth of a baby girl, by handing out pink ladoos in celebration.
There is an urgent need to change the customs, values and traditions of the South Asian community when it comes to gender biases and preferences. A study has found that India-born Canadian immigrant women who already have two girls gave birth to 192 boys for every 100 girls in Ontario. The gender ratios in Canada have become so distorted that they cannot be explained by natural causes. In India, thousands of girls are aborted each year.
A recent census in India has found that there were 940 girls born for every 1000 boys. The implications of this distortion are huge, as is the negative behaviour that has surrounded the birth of baby girls across the globe. This lohri, let’s recognize that girls are blessings too.
Navkiran Brar is a well rounded professional from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and an Editor at AAJ Magazine.
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