Sikh leaders in New Delhi, India, have called for a ban on expensive weddings. Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee believes it to promote equality.
“Our fight is against the exploitation by those who pose demands on the girl’s family to organize elaborate weddings,” the Times of India quotes one leader as saying.
The Committee has instructed its clergy not to hand over wedding certificates to couples who throw over-the-top bashes.
The ban on demanding a dowry is widely ignored in India, as is the ban on checking the sex of an unborn child with an ultrasound scan, particularly among wealthier Indians.
Around 10 million female foetuses have been aborted in the last 20 years, according to a study published in the medical journal the Lancet last year. The gender ratio is often more skewed in wealthier areas. (source)
The Sikhs’ home state of Punjab has 793 females per 1,000 males, the lowest in the country as many female foetuses are aborted following ultrasound tests proscribed by law for several years. India’s national average, according to the 2001 census, stood at 933 females for every 1,000 males.
