Govt Must Appeal Against Sati Judgement: AIDWA

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) appeals to the Rajasthan government to immediately appeal against the shocking exoneration by the special court of all the accused in the Roop Kanwar sati case. It is a mockery of justice that after sixteen years the court should now come to the conclusion that there was no sati at all and that therefore no glorification could have taken place!

Unfortunately the judicial institutions in Rajasthan going by the various comments made n the issue of sati, fail to appreciate that the glorification of sati is itself a crime. Firstly even though it was a so-called special court it took more than sixteen years for the judgement, clearly more than enough time for the witnesses to get pressurized into changing their statements. Secondly, just as in the Best Bakery case in Gujarat, in the sati case too the accused are people with important connections much more so than the witness. One of them was given a BJP ticket and was elected in the recent assembly elections and others are office bearers of the ruling party. Being accused in a sati glorification case is not reason enough to be denied a ticket by the BJP, on the contrary it is probably a reason to get it.  Caste is also an important factor that is know to influence processes of justice and seems to have done so in this case too.

The judgement will give strength to those who believe that sati is an Indian tradition that needs to be ‘protected’.  It was the mother of the present chief minister who had publicly expressed such retrograde views. It is to be seen and hoped that the present incumbent will reject such views and appeal against the judgement in defence of a single woman’s right to life.