iv) Anti-sati Movement

In 1829 the practice of Sati was abolished through a legislation which marked the culmination of a debate initiated by the British. The burning of a young widow Roop Kanwar

in 1988 on the funeral pyre of her husband in Deorala, Rajasthan, sparked off strong protests by women’s organisations. The delayed response of the government came in the wake of mounting agitation in the shape of Commission of Sati (Prevention) Bill, which was hurriedly passed in the Parliament. The Act assumes that it is a practice sanctioned by the custom. It does not seek to punish those who profit by raising money by selling photographs and raising donations in the name of so called ‘sati’. There is nothing on preventive action. It is strange that the barbaric practice, against which social reformers raised their voices, still persists in a country, which reveres mother goddesses.