Sati Tradition - Widow Burning in India: A Socio-legal Examination - Sati Tradition - Widow Burning in India: A Socio-legal Examination
Conclusion -It is most unfortunate the present Indian Government has dropped the move for a stringent sati laws under the pressure of her own cabinet ministers. In any other civilized society, this would be called murder but still in India the act of murdering widows is traditional rituals. It is astonished that country’s inability to cross political and fundamentalist barriers in straightforward and non-confusing matters of human rights such as dowry and Sati.
India is a signatory of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, meaning that, along with other issues, slavery is prohibited by law, and yet, in the form of widows, there are millions of slaves existing in India today - innocent victims who have no way of defending themselves - and no longer an "escape" through "sati" - because society has come to accept their miserable plight as -- "all part of our Tradition and Culture ". For those who abuse widows, it is a Vulture's culture. It would seem that males have not only used their extra physical strength to dominate women, but also their use of religion as a very powerful weapon.
Though, the provisions of the Sati Act, CEDAW, and Optional Protocol must be enforced in its true spirit, it appears that certain amendments in Sati Act are also required as already discussed above. Social awakening is need of the hour. Literacy among the women is necessary. Not only this, the women also must come forward to achieve the goal. Only then, ray of hope to save the lives of the innocent women can be seen.
The Indian Constitution is actually far more liberal than those of many nations which have been governed by "democratic" systems for many years. India has produced a present female President, a female Prime Minister, female Governors, female Chief Ministers, High Court judges, university professors, surgeons, airline and Air-Force fighter pilots, to name only a few areas where women have been able to claim an equal place with the male species, however, in general, and especially when it comes to women of "lower" (yet with equal potential) rank in society - those of "low" caste communities - women have a long way to go to reach the full human potential for which they were ordained.
India is a signatory of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, meaning that, along with other issues, slavery is prohibited by law, and yet, in the form of widows, there are millions of slaves existing in India today - innocent victims who have no way of defending themselves - and no longer an "escape" through "sati" - because society has come to accept their miserable plight as -- "all part of our Tradition and Culture ". For those who abuse widows, it is a Vulture's culture. It would seem that males have not only used their extra physical strength to dominate women, but also their use of religion as a very powerful weapon.
Though, the provisions of the Sati Act, CEDAW, and Optional Protocol must be enforced in its true spirit, it appears that certain amendments in Sati Act are also required as already discussed above. Social awakening is need of the hour. Literacy among the women is necessary. Not only this, the women also must come forward to achieve the goal. Only then, ray of hope to save the lives of the innocent women can be seen.
The Indian Constitution is actually far more liberal than those of many nations which have been governed by "democratic" systems for many years. India has produced a present female President, a female Prime Minister, female Governors, female Chief Ministers, High Court judges, university professors, surgeons, airline and Air-Force fighter pilots, to name only a few areas where women have been able to claim an equal place with the male species, however, in general, and especially when it comes to women of "lower" (yet with equal potential) rank in society - those of "low" caste communities - women have a long way to go to reach the full human potential for which they were ordained.
posted by temporal at 5/02/2009
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