Should archaic gendered rituals like Sati be glorified?
NO, It will be equal to glorifying murder In a country where the last case of Sati was recorded 31 years ago, can we really afford to glorify the death of women? It is not the choice of women that comes to attention in such depictions, but the nature of the depictions themselves. If we choose to look at Sati and Jauhar as acts of dignity, it is not the women we glorify but institutionalised murder itself. NO, Gayatri Punj, Delhi It will hamper the progression of society Not everything archaic is regressive in nature. But, Sati as a practice is regressive, archaic and patriarchal in nature with no scope of choice given to women. Its glorification not only justifies the act and mindset behind it but rather elevates them. Where the need is to create awareness for a genderfluid society and the progress is immensely slow in nature, the glorification of such rituals acts as an obstacle. Srishti Singh, Delhi NO, There is no call to justify the outlawed practice What really changes the narrative is one’s ability to identify and distinguish between the conviction and strength of a woman from an ardent adherence to a practice which was unlawful at best, downright inhumane and patriarchal at worst. A woman’s right and choice to live is not inversely proportional to her strength. Every time one fails to distinguish between them, it pushes women back into everything they have fought against till now. Akshata Namjoshi, Delhi NO, It will push us back to traditional contraints Doing so holds the potential danger of pushing us back to the Middle Ages. I feel selfimmolation which would actually translate into modern day ‘suicide’, is utterly unjustifiable. But as far as the glorified portrayals are concerned, I believe that unless it is the artist’s motive to promote such archaic notions in today’s world, we can safely put away our chastity girdles. It is an interesting irony that those in favour of freedom of speech seek to impose vaginal and phallic constraints on artistic freedom. Gautam Vishal, Delhi