South Asia: Celebrating the 7 Billionth Child

On the 31 October, 2011, the earth welcomed a newborn child named Oishi. Her birth in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka carried a special message - she is the 7 billionth child of the world.

The Editor.net reports:

The 7 billionth child of the world is here in Dhaka. The lucky parents of the child are Mohsin Hossain and Tonni Hossain. They had hoped for a boy child as their third child. And this 3rd child is the 7 billionth child (symbolic) of the world.

The beautiful girl child was born on 12:01 AM at the early hours in Azimpur Maternity and Child Care Hospital.

It is difficult to identify exactly which child is the 7 billionth one, so a symbolic celebration is happening around the world. UNFPA selected Oishi to carry the honor in Bangladesh.

The website adds:

This birth was celebrated publicly - with cake and candles. The hospital was crowded with people who gathered to catch a glimpse of the child. Sponsored by the 7 billion action program, this program was a publicity event.

Posha Pakhi at group blog Somewhereinblog.net carried the news with a post titled "The 7 billionth child was born in Dhaka". The post attracted many comments:

Journo opined [bn]:

Welcome the the 7 billionth child from Bangladesh. Hope she will live as an enlightened person.

Mithapur wished the child and questioned the justification of selecting her and mentioned jokingly [bn]:

One question: How did they calculate that she is the 7 billionth

If the line would read -

The world's 7 billion (instead of billionth) children born in Dhaka

It can happen one day, isn't it?

Atiq cannot tell the difference between 7 billion and 7 billion plus one:

I don't understand all the fuss between 7 billion and 7 billion plus one numbers. Why so much discussion on this? Everybody is born with a number everyday.

My prayers for every one of them.

Although the world cheers at Oishi's birth, it did not cheer her parents much. Because Oishi is a girl child. Her parents wanted a boy this time [bn] (the first two are girls).

Sri lankan mother Danushika Perera cuddling her newly born baby. Image by Rohan Karunarathne. Copyright Demotix (31/10/2011)

Not only in Bangladesh, similar celebrations took place in many countries of the world. In Sri Lanka UNFPA celebrated the birth of Muthumani, the girl child of Ishara Madushanka and Danushika Dilani Perera.

Similarly in India Plan International celebrated the birth of Nargis as the 7 billionth child of the world.

LiveIndia.Com reports [Hi]:

In Lucknow, the capital of Uttarpradesh state in India, a baby girl named Nargis was the symbolic seven billionth child to be born during the early ours of Monday. She was named as Nargis.

Although the growing number of world population has been seen as a wake up call for the world, Muthumani, Oishi and Nargis give us the message that the girl-children should not be neglected in the future.

Translated from Bangla. Original post by Bijoy at Global Voices Bangla.