Reality behind Declining Child Sex Ratio in Kashmir-India

Bashir A. Bhat, University of Kashmir

The findings of Census-2011 pertaining to drastic decline in Child Sex Ratio in Kashmir Valley (India) has become a subject of debate both among media houses and civil society, given the Muslim majority character of the region, and lower gender discrimination in health and nutrition, but hardly any academic effort has been made to analyse the reality behind the decline in CSR in Kashmir. Using data from various sources regarding Sex Ratio at Birth and use of ultrasound and interaction with the census enumerators, the present paper aims to analyse whether the drastic decline in CSR in Kashmir is due to female feticide or due to politicization of Census. The findings indicate that Kashmir has a normal SRB and women who use ultrasound do so for diagnostics purposes and not necessarily for sex determination. Child over count and over reporting of males in Census due to regional politics has resulted in skewed child sex ratio in Kashmir.