Proud or what

There seems to be such a hullabaloo of India's rising stock market and our so called booming economy, growing cellphone usage and many spin-doctored figures that people "proudly" forget the 2 most inhuman and shameful features of our nation - hunger and sex-based discrimination

Hunger and Destitude -

The WHO, FAO and UNDP have found that India's number of hungry and undernourished increased in the last decade and suspect that it still is increasing due to lack of reach to them from any of the concerned. Shows how much our media and our government is out of touch from the harsh realities. Here are some articles.
http://www.iies.su.se/publications/seminarpapers/699.pdf
http://www.mospi.nic.in/mospi_social_pr.htm

Numbers - though we have 6 billionaires in the top 20, at least 233 million - a staggering fourth of our country is still hungry and does not get 2 square meals.
another 37.1 % people are below the poverty lines which suggests that only a third of the poor are able to feed themselves fully despite having the world's largest grain reserves and potential to buy out the shortage of rice and a vast PDS. Causes extreme strife, school dropouts, rise in crime and social backwardness and ignorance and disharmony with the big picture.

The growing discord between impoverished masses has led to communist revolt in the eastern belt from Nepal to Kerala and from Vidarbha to Assam thanks to the strong presence of the Communists in Eastern India and Nepal and the source of revolution that is present in our powerful neighbour. The sting-operation-obsessed, spin doctored news channel oriented and haplessly retarded media of ours has neither the courage nor the conviction of reporting any of this.


Sexual Discrimination against Women -

Although well known and documented, the statistics and numbers still show rise in the massive scale of injustice meted out against women in India.
Lower estimates itself say are that 42 Million - that is 4.2 crore Girl infants and foetuses were killed in cold blood by our people upto 2001. (Leading were those who were educated, wealthy and having access to the world class health services) The sex ratio is so skewed in Punjab, Haryana, North Rajasthan and Gujarat and now spread widely all over the nations big cities that trafficking of women has increased and women are being sold as commodities in all these places. Human and girl trafficking has reached new heights with victims being innocent children mostly girls being sold off in big cities into flesh trade.

Not only this women in India are still subject to more torture domestically, including forced work, teenage pregnancy, denial of education or health care and purposeful undernourishment to favour the male child in the house. Add to it the bane of dowry violence and domestic sexual exploitation makes it probably the worst nightmare for any woman. I am really surprised that chain e-mails saying this never circulate among us the more fortunate lot.

Articles /Research -
http://www.iheu.org/node/1049
http://www.ideajournal.com/articles.php?id=37
http://www.saidit.org/archives/jul01/article3.html

IS this to be proud of or to be ashamed of ?