By Md. Zillur Rahaman

National Daughters' Day is celebrated on September 30 and this day was first celebrated internationally on October 11, 2012 to eliminate gender inequality around the world. The member states of the United Nations observe this day with great importance every year. However, different countries celebrate the day on different days bu this day is celebrated on September 30 in Bangladesh. The day was started with the aim of protecting the right of daughters to education, protection of food and nutrition, right to legal aid and justice, protection from medical facilities and discrimination, and effective role in stopping violence against women and child marriage.

In fact, girls have been neglected in the family and society since time immemorial. In this case, religious and social prejudices are having an effect but these have to be broken. Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hossain, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Raja Rammohun Roy and others have contributed to the establishment of inconsistency and women's rights in the society. Following in their footsteps, we should also take some responsibility, because without the daughters, we will never be able to achieve the goal of sustainable development.

The contribution of men and women for the creation of any welfare society and state is undeniable. Not only men are involved in all creation, women can also conquer everything if given a chance. They can enlighten the society as a Nightingale like men, that is why all children should be given the right to grow up equally. However, discrimination against girls is prehistoric. It is important to break away from that notion, with the importance of these issues, the establishment of women's rights around the world is celebrated every year. At present, in addition to the family, many women are being socially abused in various ways.

Child marriage is a major obstacle to women's empowerment and our society considers girls to be a burden. Daughters do not want to spend money on children's education. The guardians think if they can be get married, the burden is gone. But times have changed a lot, daughters are no longer a burden.

Rather, daughters are the best investment and the beacon of society. Because from them, we find our future generations and good mother. It can be seen that girls take more care of their parents than boys. In fact, if a good investment can be made to educate daughters, they will one day grow up to be ideal and majestic mothers. Just as a tree grows well and gives flowers, fruits, wood, shade and a clean environment, so a daughter invests behind a child and becomes an enlightened mother in adulthood, enlightening the family, society and the state as a Nightingale in many ways.

Surprisingly, regardless of whether educated, uneducated, rich, middle class, poor in our society or even in our own family, we see different attitudes and discriminatory attitudes towards girls. As a result, girls are the first victims of poverty. Due to some so-called social norms, girls are raised from infancy in such a way that they do not learn to be defendants. Discriminatory treatment of them is not seen as unjust but is taught to be accepted instinctively and with compromise, which in turn helps to widen the path of oppression and violence against women. Though there is talk of equal rights for women in different religions, it has remained hidden behind various superstitions.

Although the present government has contributed to the upbringing of girls and gender inequality and empowerment of women, the rate of violence has not decreased but various crimes like child marriage, sexual harassment, dowry are still happening in developed and modern society. Victims' women say, "We want to get rid of them. So, we need to break the culture of silence of women. It is possible to deal with all these problems through a united organization. Only then will today's theme be successful and there will be sustainable development in the society."

In today's modern and educated society, we say in words, 'Whether a child is a boy or a girl, being human is the real thing.' Even though the educated man knows the scientific fact that a woman has no role in having a daughter, he mentally imposes this responsibility on women in many cases. As a result, thousands of women in our country suffer mental and physical torture for giving birth to daughters without any injustice.

The government of Bangladesh does not have any exact statistics on how many female fetuses are being killed in Bangladesh. However, a 2014 survey by the Gutmaker Institute, a US-based organization, found that 1.194 million self-motivated abortions occur in Bangladesh each year and these abortions are performed for various reasons. However, the picture of concern is that many couples are expecting a son.

When the baby is in the womb, they will know that they will have a daughter, not a son. Then through MR ruined their daughter before the birth. But no matter how the fetus is killed, it is a matter of concern and we have to get out of it. According to a research paper by the Islamic Research Foundation, the human embryo is an early human form. So, from a religious point of view, abortion is an extreme mistake or outright murder and abortion is therefore considered a serious crime, even if the fetus is used in stem cell research to cure the disease.

On the other hand, Indian couples have more boys than girls. Basically, prejudice against sons is a long-standing culture in Indian society. They believe that in families, the son will make the family financially prosperous, take care of the parents in old age, and preserve the family identity. On the other hand, the girls get married and move to the next house and at the same time, the parents have to bear the burden of huge dowry at the time of the girl's marriage. According to a report released by the United Nations Population Fund in June 2020, about 46 million girls have gone missing in India in the last 50 years. Every year, 4.6 million female fetuses are killed in abortions in the country, and the infant mortality rate is very high due to the deliberate neglect of female children after birth.

Presently 15 percent of the world's population are girls and in Bangladesh there are 16 million girls, which is 10 percent of the total population. But these girls are still neglected in many ways. They are victims of insecurity and malnutrition outside the house, in everywhere. In various surveys and researches of the country, 15 to 18-19 year old girls are important but the situation of 10 to 14 year old girls is not clear in the statistics. According to the UNICEF, Bangladesh is one of the top countries for child marriage. In Bangladesh, 18 percent of girls get married at the age of 15 and 52 percent of girls get married by the age of 18.

In fact, education is the key to women's empowerment. Education serves as a regulator of girl child development, prevention of child marriage and reduction of child mortality. The government has taken women-friendly initiatives in recent years to encourage students and women to participate in education. As a result, the situation has improved a lot in ensuring female enrollment and gender equality in primary and secondary schools.

A hunger-poverty-free country can never be built by keeping girls and women in contempt, deprivation and inequality. In this reality, the development of education for women and girls is very important. It has to start with the maximum investment for the baby girl. We have to ensure equal opportunities and participation for them in all fields including nutrition, health, education. They need to be turned into skilled human resources and the process of building this human resource has to start from the birth of a daughter. Remember, today's baby girl will enlighten the family as a Nightingale in the society and the state as a well-educated majestic woman and ideal mother of the future.

The writer is, Banker and Columnist