More than 40,000 women have gone missing in Gujarat in five years, from 2017 to 2020. This was reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Significantly, this news was published on the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘star campaigner’ of BJP was unleashing scathing attacks on female political opponents. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Home Minister Amit Shah cared to say anything about this utterly shocking national shame. They need not comment as Modi and Shah but as the PM and the HM of this country and the news is about the state they come from. Manipur is burning with communal violence and farmers are protesting along with the protesting wrestlers. None of these caught their attention.  
 

Table 1: Missing Women of Gujarat 2016-2020

                                    Source: https://ncrb.gov.in

The NCRB and its state counter parts State Crime Records Bureau jointly collect and publish records on various types of crimes in the country. There is one special section that deals with Missing Women and Children in India. It is from this official records, some of the newspapers pointed out the story of missing women of Gujarat. As per the official records, in 5 years, over 41,000 women are missing in Gujarat (Table 1). 

The Times of India reported that in 2021, according to the government’s report in the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat, 4722 women were reported missing in Ahmedabad and Vadodara in 2019-20.  In this regard former IPS officer and member of Gujarat State Human Rights Commission Sudhir Sinha said many of the missing women may have been sold in other states for forced sex trade. He also alleged that the Gujarat police does not take such cases seriously. The Human Rights Commission has suggested that such cases should be treated more seriously than murder. When a child goes missing, the family waits for years until that child is found. Such cases should be investigated as rigorously as a murder case. 

It is common knowledge that human trafficking gangs are to be suspected in the disappearance of the girls. It has already been brought to the notice of government that missing children are being brought to other states and sold. But no action is taken. This is due to the fact that most of the missing women are from the Tribal, Dalit and Most Backward caste communities who are powerless, voiceless and resourceless. It is this Gujarat which can boast of the marriage expenses of the daughter of a corporate house which spent a whopping 700 crores for her marriage. 

Former Additional Director General of Police Dr. Rajan Priyadarshi stated that during his tenure as police officer he observed that a majority of missing women were picked up by illegal human trafficking agents who transport them to another state and sell them. Dr. Rajan gave a concrete case of such human trafficking from Kheda district of Gujarat when he was the Superintendent of Police there. He stated that a poor girl from the district was picked up by a migrant labourer from Uttar Pradesh and sold in his native village where she worked as a farm labourer. Since Dr. Rajan pursued the matter in his capacity as police official, the girl was rescued. But he bemoaned the fact that all the missing women who are trafficked are not as lucky as this girl. 

It is significant to note that the BJP’s 22-year-reign in Gujarat has taken the state from bad to worse and the vulnerable and marginalised are the ones whose rights are violated without any recourse to legal provisions. Writing in The Times of India on April 29, 2023, Himanshu Kaushik stated that despite laws to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender, the girl child continues to be under threat in Gujarat. According to him Gujarat registered the third most skewed sex ratio at birth in the country with 909 girls per 1000 boys according to the Centre’s report, ‘Vital Statistical of India’ based on the Civil Registration System 2020. Another fact needs to be highlighted and that is, the numbers presented here is only those that are reported and recorded. In many cases the families of missing girls and women do not even report knowing well that since they are marginalised no officials worth their name will take appropriate action. 

It is pertinent to note that in the last two decades, technological advances like antenatal ultrasound scanning and prenatal genetic testing have made it easier to abort female pregnancies. Abortion is legal in India but aborting a foetus after discovering that it is a girl is illegal. But irrespective of this being illegal, female foeticide is common. In India's patriarchal society, while the mother is silenced, it is the husband, and in-laws who exert extreme pressure to terminate the pregnancy. To deter the use of ultrasound scans to make a sex determination before birth, India amended its Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act in 2003. As usual, in India rules are made to be violated and violated by those who are powerful and those who are supposed to ensure the implementation these rules. There is collusion between families, doctors, officials and administration.

Another indicator through which the well-being of the citizens of a country can be measured is by analysing the sex ratio, that is, the number of females per 1000 males. In general, India has more males than females. As per Census 2011, the gender ratio of India is 943 females per 1000 males. Sex ratio in Gujarat on the other hand was better than the national average till 1990. But from 1990 onwards, sex ratio started declining and it is 920 while the national ratio is 943 in 2011 (Table 2).
 

Table 2: Sex Ratio of Gujarat and India

Interestingly, it is in these decades BJP was in power in Gujarat and in that the present Prime Minster of India was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014. Gujarat stood at 24th place in terms of sex ratio both in 2001 and 2011. This goes to disprove any Gujarat model worth its name.

It is reported that Gujarat has seen upward trend in literacy rate and is 78.03 percent as per latest population census. Of that, male literacy stands at 85.75 percent while female literacy is at 69.68 percent. This in itself is a positive trend. But if one looks at the gap between male and female literacy rate then the deep-seated denial of constitutional rights to female members is clear. Interestingly, even after 75 years of independence and 50 years of planned development and innumerable educational policies and programs, women are relegated to the background even in an ordinary indicator like literacy and education. 

This mind set and operational discrepancies is further pronounced if we examine the literacy rate among the Tribals of Gujarat. Tribal literacy rate of Gujarat in 2011 was as follows: 62.5 Total, Male 71.7 and Female 53.2. Once again due to lack of delivery and accessibility by the Tribal community, in spite of they wanting to get literate and educated, they lag behind. This is the case in one of the most developed states of India. 

As per a study conducted by the Behavioural Science Centre, St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, in the seven districts of south Gujarat, nearly half (51%) of the total 1,941 respondents were class X pass. The ratio decreases with higher studies, i.e., about a fourth (24%) have passed class XII; graduates were 11% and postgraduates 4%. Make in India and Make India seems not for the Tribal population. Only their land, labour, water, forest and other resources are needed to be plundered in the name of nation building. 

While Gujarat and Central governments have fundamentally discriminated against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, these communities have done better where outside influence is not there. Though literacy rate may be lower among them but they are better off in terms of sex ratio. The Dalits had 931 girls out of 1000 boys and Tribals had 981 girls out of 1000 boys in 2011 while the Gujarat state registered only 920. This exposes the myth of modern and educated society which fundamentally discriminates against female child and women. 

To nail the fact of the argument of missing women in Gujarat let us conclude our argument saying ‘We Indians worship our goddesses and celebrate their festivals. We associate them with wealth (Lakshmi), power (Shakthi), and knowledge (Saraswathi). And we name our daughters after them — but sadly, we don't give our girls the respect and affection they deserve. Above all, we violate those legal and constitutional provisions which are supposed to protect them from discrimination. Hence, there is need for creating awareness on gender equality and justice not among the citizens but among Modi, Shah and those stooges who surround them and the andh bhakts who follow them.  Make these servants of citizens to crack down on pre-natal diagnostic techniques and tests and those who unscrupulously engage in this practice. Then only Gujarat can be saved. If one man is saved, a family is saved, if one woman is saved a family, community and a country is saved’.