Sir,
To be fair, we must remember the words of Churchill, wherein India was considered more of a geographic expression rather than a country.
The huge landmass that is India has many faces, the current image of a technologically "modern" economic superpower jars with rural expressions such as that of our ancestors, pagan Rome and Greece.
We are privileged to view an amazing region, encompassing all the transitions from the heritage of mankind, from the savage brute to the sublime, an intoxicating mix.
However, we cannot remain unmoved, civilisation means a move away from political barbarism of worshipping brute material power and achieving it via opportunism and expediency. If we remain materialistic, hard-hearted and illiberal, then we too are primitive, viewing the human as just another animal or utilitarian commodity. Long live our common humanity.

SC, London, United Kingdom

The concept that a female child is a burden is a painful reminder that there is much growth yet to be done by India as a country.

Parents dread having a female child, because they have to pay to raise this child. Once she gets to an age where she can work, and bring money back into the family - she has also reached the age by which she should marry (again an Indian culture). Given that a lot of people believe in dowry - the parents must pay for her to marry, hence she provides no money, but spends money instead. So - save out on all of that by killing her before she is born.

India banned ultrasound a few years ago - this hasn't fully worked. Why not ban dowry which seems a bigger reason for such behaviour?

Secondly - educate the mass that girls can do what boys can. They can get paid as well. They can build empires if they so wish. There is more life than marrying the daughter off, and expecting her to take care, and look after her husband thus sacrificing any dreams she may have.

Kitu, London,

Its time that the government of India banned the dowry. Also women are their own worst enemies. There are many mother in laws that would be upset that their daughter in laws are pregnant with a girl. Women need to stand up for other women.

Isnt it in India where they discard their own mothers if their father dies. Just tip her out into the street. It disgusts me that people treat women so badly. Why do they even bother to have children if they treat them so badly. Oh thats right its so they look good in the eyes of their neighbours. 'Look at me I have a fine son, I killed off a few daughters though, as they were just nothing.'

Katt, Adelaide, Australia

If you would have three wishes, what would you wish?

Helena Mathys, Hameenlinna, Finland

Perhaps the wealthy man wanted a son for another reason besides carrying on his business. He may also have been thinking of the large dowry that must be paid when a rich man's daughter marries,

John Wilson, Santa Cruz, California

I wonder how the pro-abortion crowd in the west will react to this. Let's see: it's wrong to abort because the child is a girl but it's OK if it's an embarassment or incovenience. In the future if homosexuality is found to be sometimes caused by a gene, and it can be id'd before birth, I would expect selection will take place for that as well.

warren, calgary, alberta

May the courage Mrs. Salotia has shown, both in suffering to protect her daughters and in mustering the strength to break this code of silence, inspire us all to help bring a better life to India and her daughters.

Sandy Parks, Raleigh, North Carolina / USA

The problem will create it's own solution. With only 9 females for each male (and dropping) it won't be long before a shortage of brides will mean a dowry will have to be paid to the female's family instead of the male's. And suddenly everyone will want daughters.

Will, Cambridge, UK

Female foeticide is our national shame, and as an Indian male, something that makes me feel deeply ashamed. If India wants to move into the top 5 countries in the world in terms of power and prestige, we will have to root out this evil from our midst. Pooja Salotia deserves our support and admiration for her bravery in the face of this perverted practice.

Sandeep, Birmingham, UK

They will pay in the future. In China, there are many male bachelors who cannot find mates. Families who aborted abandoned their daughters to die of exposure are still facing the end of their lines when their sons cannot find a wife. Without a wife, there are no grandchildren. No grandchildren, no grandsons. The result is the family name ends anyway. I am utterly dumfounded at how anyone could cosider women as worthless. I consider woman to be far more valuable then men, and I am a man.

Tom in Wisconsin, Appleton, WI

Liberals show how stupid they are when they look at this issue as a female problem.

It is an abortion problem, you dummies. Only if abortion is an unacceptable act for ANY baby will girl babies be safe.

Let me repeat it for those of you in Rio Linda, California:
ONLY IF ABORTION IS AN UNACCEPTABLE ACT FOR EVERY BABY WILL GIRL BABIES BE SAFE.

Period. There is no other option.

James Solbakken, San Leandro, California

Our Creator may have endowed Human beings with unnumbered rights, but we have only the rights they are willing to assert and exercise for themselves. This woman is a hero - I just wish she could have found the strength to stand up sooner.

Scott-Sarmite Bentley, Rowland Heights, CA

Killing foetuses (by aborting them) for no good reason is a bad Karma. Ultrasound technology is both boon and bane for India. However, a nuclear power with over a billion people is going down in history with a stigma of creating gender imbalance in favour of males. What happened to the women's rights, especially at a time when a female president is at the helm? It's a shame. What's still more shameful is a society which has stooped so low: a husband asking his brothers to produce a male child from his wife. Mrs Salotia is a courageous woman. Her fight will expose the ills of the society steeped into such crimes as dowry deaths and female foeticide.

Amjad Khan, Doha, Qatar

Neil, I agree with you. Yoshimi, there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying Good luck because that she is going to need alot of it to survive this. It is tough being a woman in an Asian country and it is true that many people in the west hold the eastern way of life in high regard. The truth is, cultures in the east hide some very dark truths behind their calm, charming veneers.

Unfortunately, the law of nature, karma, is not the answer to everything.

Sandar, Yangon, Myanmar

Where are all the feminists? NOW and NARAL? Why the silence?

Stephanie, Dayton, Ohio

Twenty two years' back, I travelled to Bombay with my wife and two daughters, aged 7 and 4 then. When we reached Bombay, my wife felt unwell and so her aunt took her to see their local doctor. When they returned, my wife was very upset. Upon enquiry, it emerged that she was pregnant and her aunt ( a very religious woman ) and the doctor ( whose primary job is to save lives ) suggested that the sex of the unborn child should be determined and if it was a girl, then the baby can be disposed off. Even to-day, when I think of it, it sickens me. Needless to say that I am not proud to be born in Hindu faith.

MR JAYANT THAKRAR, SLOUGH, ENGLAND

I rather doubt most people outside India have any real idea of the kind of mental pressure a woman in India would be under, to publicly allege these things - especially "high society" women. It´s so easy for Westerners to applaud such declarations with a "good on ya, hope it all works out" mentality. Here´s a hint for you Western people: imagine you were an upper class female character out of Tolstoy or going back further, the French early 19th C writers or Jane Austen. What sort of effect do you think it would have on yourself and on people around you, and therefore what emotional stress do you think it would take to do something about it? It´s easy to be a first if society is working for you. Underneath are the millions of oppressed poor women, rural and urban, who have to go along with female infanticide quietly, since it is backed up by the immense pressures of brute economics and the custom of dowry for marriage.

Arjun Sen, Mijas, Spain

Niel,

Your comments deliver a mixed message to the world. WIth the best intention, you don't say "Good luck to Mrs ..." Suggest that better watch your wording.

The gender issue releaved in India is rooted deeply to the class systems they have had in its history, and a similar issue is found in other, often developing nations such as China. Society needs a change in their perspectives, and regards to life.
Sins and all ill wills being taken will be bound to be returned to those who have done with or without their awareness. That is the law of nature, Karma.

I encourage women and men alike to voice themselves.

Yoshimi, California, US

Well good luck to Mrs Salotia, I hope the profile of someone such as her will have a profound effect on attitudes regarding girls/women. its not just insulting, its barbaric. And its interesting to think how many people in the west hold the eastern way of life in such high regard, In truth they are just as bad, or good as us.

Neil, Toronto, Canada

Well good luck to Mrs Salotia, I hope the profile of someone such as her will have a profound effect on attitudes regarding girls/women. its not just insulting, its barbaric. And its interesting to think how many people in the west hold the eastern way of life in such high regard, In truth they are just as bad, or good as us.

Neil, Toronto, Canada