Dowry is ‘extortion’, not a gift and the malpractice continues to plague India even today, said Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar speaking about his latest film release Raksha Bandhan at a press conference on Wednesday. The actor highlighted the unfair pressures dowry places on fathers and brothers to do more than they can.
The press conference was held for the film Raksha Bandhan- which is based around the difficulties faced by women in India and the crucial role that dowry plays in their weddings. “Some demand that they want to have the wedding on a large scale. I would call it extortion. The father, the brother are not that capable, and yet they try to do as much as they can so that it (the wedding) happens,” Akshay Kumar told the The Indian Express.
Speaking further on the matter, the actor said “We cannot disagree with the fact that dowry is very much there in India. It’s in the layers. Some call it dowry, gift, ‘sankalp‘. It has different names.’ Regardless it is a social evil that needs to be addressed and erased from society.
Unfortunately, the malpractice of ‘dowry’ is still common in Pakistan as well- and continues to coerce families of brides to give away large amounts of money and savings to people who haven’t done anything to deserve or earn it. What is your take on this regressive tradition?
