ABSTRACT

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was hailed as the father of Indian

Renaissance. Nineteenth Century India witnessed a
remarkable transformation in the Social ideas in the
History of India. Age old ‘Sati system’, ie, burning
of Widow in her dead husband’s funeral pyre which
existed in India was abolished due to the effort of
Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Problems Of Widow Remarriage
are [Link] will and the Religious
aspect,the social implications and various other
factors are emphasized based on my views.
INTRODUCTION
The position of women which consists nearly half of
the population of the country is not so good and the
position of the widows is even worse. Vidyasagar
championed the upliftment of the status of women in
India, particularly in Bengal. The Bengal Sati
Regulation which had banned the Sati practice in all
the jurisdictions of British India was passed on
December 4, 1829 by the then Governor-General Lord
William. The regulation set out the practice of Sati
as revolting to the feelings of human nature.
Sati, is a practice among Hindu communities where a
recently widowed woman, either voluntarily or by
pressure, burns herself on her deceased husband's
pyre. The woman who immolates herself is called a
Sati and which is elucidated as a 'chaste woman.
There have been many instances of how the widows were
persistently avoided in India and thus the only
solution for a life without husband was to practice
Sati as it was considered to be the exorbitant
expression of wifely devotion to her deceased
husband. In order to bring a change in the fate of
women who suffered on the account of death of their
husbands a campaign was launched by Brahmo Samaj
advocating widow remarriage.
Despite Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s campaign that led
to the legislation of widow remarriage (1856) in
India, Hindu society had many reservations on this
issue. Unlike some other reformers who sought to set
up pinch-hitting societies or systems, he sought to
transform society from within. The Brahmos campaigned
against such prejudices. To reinforce their
commitment to this many young men of the Brahmo
movement made a positive impact of marrying widows.
It was not just the lower castes who suffered because
of the caste system but also the girls from the upper
caste families suffered because of their position. If
a bridegroom could not be found for a girl in the
same caste, their options were limited, as marriage
to lower caste men was not granted. These girls were
often found themselves being married off to very old
men who were already married or in some cases these
girls would be poisoned to death. Again, then Brahmos
campaigned against such unjust practices and saved
the lives of many such girls. Widows were considered
inauspicious and were not permitted to attend festive
occasions, despite many of them being young girls
whose marriage had not even been consummated. It was
very common that the mother-in-law taunted her to be
responsible for her son’s death. The death of the
husband was only the beginning of a young woman’s
problems. She was either expected to commit sati or
return to her genitors. If she stayed with her
husband’s family, she had to do all the menial work
and would be ill-treated.
Her head was shaved, her glass bangles were broken,
confined to white clothes and would never be allowed
to look attractive since she was considered a sexual
threat to society.
Widow re-marriage was not permitted among the Hindus,
except in few tribal communities.

Legislative Will
Legislative Enactments and their effect With a view
to improving the life of a lot of widows, the Hindu
Widow Remarriage Act (Act XV) was passed on 26 July
1856. The Act, however, failed to serve its purpose
and the attempt to encourage the remarriage of Hindu
widows did not make substantial progress. The
remarriage of widows was legalized by the Hindus
Widows Act, 1856 but not many widow marriages were
celebrated and the Act was not a big success. But,
however, with the passage of time and by the efforts
of numerous reformists the condition of widows
underwent huge change. Widow homes were established
and they were educated and also taught to be self
reliant. Mahatma Gandhi called upon women of all
walks of life to take part in the freedom struggle
and this in a way improved their lot. Many
progressive thinkers encouraged widow remarriage and
helped conduct [Link] passage of the Child Marriage
Restraint Act also acted as a barrier to young girls
becoming widows. The mid-twentieth century saw a
radical change in the outlook and attitudes of
people. Women had access to education and many went
in for higher studies. They took up jobs and became
self reliant. This also influenced widow to study and
support themselves independently for their
sustenance.

Contribution of Brahmo Samaj

 At the time when Brahmo Samaj was born the whole
country was steeped in a dishonorable form of
idolatry and the grossest superstitions had taken
hold of the national mind. As a result, revolting
practices like the sati, or the throwing of children
into the Ganges by their mothers, etc. were
glorified. As many as 309 widows were burnt enlivened
under the jurisdiction of Calcutta in 1828.

The ideals of Brahma Samaj can be discussed below:-

• The ideals of Brahmo Samaj have their origin in the
synthesis of the Vedic religion and the Christian
[Link] supported widow-remarriage and the
education of girls. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the first
to agitate for getting women their rightful place.

• It advocated that there is one God, who is present

everywhere, and is without any shape and any form.
His worship lies in intense devotion.
• It believed in the brotherhood of man and treated
all men as equal. It started a magazine entitled
Samvad Kaumudi, to teach people love of mankind.
• It supported the introduction of English in
schools with the belief that the study of English
would open the door to modern sciences.
• It condemned social evils such as caste-ism,
untouchability, child marriage and the Sati system.
It was due to the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy that
Lord William Bentick abolished Sati system in 1829 by
declaring it an offence.
• It advocated freedom of the press and condemned
any restriction imposed on it by the Government.
ABOLITION OF SATI SYSTEM
Abolition of Sati by Sir Ram Mohan Roy embarked on a
massive mission of social reform and his first action
were to wage a tireless crusade against the Act of
sati. He gave petitions to the English government and
published tracts championing the cause for women. Due
to his efforts, the Lord William Bentinck abolished
the act of sati on fourth December,1829, despite of
this act it was continued in most of the Hindu
communities.

WHAT ARE THE RELIGIOUS ASPECTS REGARDING SATI?

In ancient Hindu law, stridharma (dharma signifies
one's duty, responsibility, or moral responsibility)
is the dharma of women. Stridharma for women entails
devotion to one's husband in fact, the Sanskrit word
for "husband" - "Swami" - literally means "Lord ". He
is essentially her “lord” for the very meaning of the
word husband means both husband and lord. The ideal
wife is one whose sole joy in life is to satisfy her
husband. Such a woman is attached to her husband even
after he has deceased. Although many widows are
treated less harshly today, they still face
discrimination. In some corners of this strange and
complex land, that act of murdering widows is a
tradition.
The British assumed that every religion,like
Christianity, would have one book which all believers
would accept as the ‘gospel truth’, and they began
searching for such a book for Hinduism. The search is
a futile one because Hinduism is not a closed body of
doctrines nor does it treat any text or set of texts
as the final [Link] different times and places,
different Hindu communities follow widely different
social and religious practices.A whole range of ideas
and beliefs, many of them contradictory, coexist and
are handed down by each generation.

HOW DOES MUSLIM LAW PLAY A ROLE IN THE SATI SYSTEM ?

Under Muslim law, a male can only will away one-third
of his property and a widow is entitled to one-eighth
of her husband’s property if there are children and
to 1/4th if there are none.A daughter is entitled to
half of her father’s property if she will get half of
whatever share the brother gets.

In practice, both among, Muslims and Hindus the

widow’s place of residence is likewise crucial to the
exercise of her right. A respectful widow will get a
share of her property as long as she lives in her
martial home but not if she remarries. This is
despite the fact that Islam permits widow
remarriage,but somehow it was not considered
“respectful” to exercise this option.A Muslim widow
clearly had inheritance rights in her parental abode
but in practice,as among Hindus,daughters were not
given anything. If a Muslim woman insisted of taking
her share, she would no longer be welcomed to their
parents residence. But she could stay in her parental
abode as a dependent on becoming a widow, in case she
was unable to do so in her marital home.

WHAT IS ROOP KANWAR’S CASE?

On September 4, 1987, 18-year-old Roop Kanwar was

burnt alive on the funeral pyre of her dead
[Link] Sati left the nation shocked and
forced lawmakers to rewrite the [Link] after the
incident, the Sati (Prevention) Act, 1987 was enacted
by the state government with provisions to punish
glorification of [Link] September 22, 1988, the
state police arrested 45 people from the village
including her in-laws, for glorifying the practice.
The new law now applies to all temples glorifying
widow burning. Moreover, the law now clearly defines
what would amount to "glorification" of sati. This
includes any ceremony, procession, collection of
funds or construction of a temple with a view to
honouring a [Link] the 45, 25 were acquitted in 2004
for lack of evidence, six died while on trial, and
five are absconding, while the case is being heard
against the remaining [Link], villagers have no
doubt that it was an act of true love.

They said that on September 4, 1987, after her

husband’s death, Roop Kanwar recited the Gayathri
Mantra (a prayer) dressed up in solah shringaar (16
adornments) while thousands of villagers from Divrala
and neighbouring villages participated, and then did
Sati. Folklore goes that her hair or clothes didn’t
burn at first, and that she didn’t let out a single
scream.

The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act,

1987 prohibits the construction of temples in the
memory of someone who has committed Sati, and
empowers District Magistrates to remove them. Yet, in
home after home in Divrala are photographs of Roop
Kanwar that often share space with other Hindu
deities.
“As per Rajput traditions, it is agad prem
(unparalleled love) towards one’s partner that makes
one take such a step”.
The Rajput women burnt themselves after their men
were defeated in battles to avoid being taken by the
victor . But it came to be seen as a measure of
wifely devotion in later years.
This custom was outlawed by India British rulers in
1829 following demands by Indian reformers.
What are the Social Implications?
Several aspects should be considered with the
practice of [Link] one, it is the age of the wife
when her husband dies does not matter Stein claims
that “a widow’s death assured guardianship and
undisputed influence over her children to her
husband’s family. It also kept her from enjoying her
lifetime rights in her husband’s estate”. With the
practice of Sati expenses were cost [Link]
Pundit (a Hindu priest) would receive the most
precious gift, and everyone who attended would be
given gifts as well, also the families who were
wealthier would also be expected to buy more
expensive products and presents.
According to Anne McLeer (2001) Lata Mani (1990)
examined two different debates with regard to the
Practice of [Link] claims, according to McLeer,
that:

“Both abolitionist and promoters of Sati (all members

of the male establishment) used Brahmanic scripture
as justification of their [Link] female
subjectivity of the Sati was not allowed to enter
into the debate; even the abolitionists failed to
mention cruelty of the cultural authority of Sati and
its relation to tradition” With use of the notion of
women be subject to men, both groups did not have
strong enough arguments for what was to happen to the
[Link] India the practice itself was restricted
under British rule, and it lead to the decline of the
practice.
In 1829, the British Monarchy decided to abolish the
practice of [Link] the British the use of Sati was
that of horror and they wanted to gain public
attention to the cause back in [Link] first they
did not want to interfere with the religious
practices of the countries they were adding to the
Empire .There were also meetings which occurred
between Hindu religious advisors, and members of the
British Supreme Court, and it was decided in 1813
they were not going to interfere with the practices,
they would just monitor them .According to historical
documentation and records of Sati it was seen, the
numbers of cases of Sati increased a great deal after
the new regulations regarding Sati were
administered . Some believe that it is because the
British were not as vigilant with recording the cases
prior to the new legislations, and now the
administration would have to be more careful about
its records .
“Lord William Bentinck’s regulations of Sati
published on 8 December 1829 outlawed widow burning
in Bengal” .He had consulted with the British
monarchy to understand how he was going to be able to
decrease the number of Sati sacrifices . Some Hindus
saw this action by Bentinck as attack on Hinduism
itself. In Calcutta the orthodox community petitioned
against Bentinck. They eventually lost however on
February 6, 1830, the orthodox party called Dharma
Sabha was [Link] party was formed to protect the
Hindu community at large and to maintain its
traditions and [Link] outcome was that Sati was
outlawed still but the Hindu community was able to
prove they had the right to discuss the issues with
the ruling [Link] states“though Sati was
prohibited, there still existed a strong feeling
among the Hindu community that despite the
legislative enactment the practice of widow – burning
would continue as the Hindus were attached to their
ancient customs with a fanatical devotion”
Then in the 1950`s when the Indian Penal Code was
being revised the British thought the sections
dealing with death and suicide were comprehensive
enough to cover the regulations instituted by the
East Indian Company therefore they would be enough to
cover the practice of Sati, and for this reason there
was no implicit reference to Sati [Link], in
1987 a women in Marwari, India, resurrected the
practice by deciding she was going to follow her
husband into the afterlife; these actions on her own
behalf led to another debate on the morality of Sati.
In the 1980`s there was a case of Sati (AS ALREADY
DISCUSSED ABOVE)which occurred and caused several
feminist groups to speak out against the practice of
Sati (bearing in mind Sati is not a common occurrence
it is nearly one in a million). A girl by the name of
Roop Kanwar, who was a new wife, to a seemingly
depressed and suicidal man. They were only married
for a short time, before her husband was admitted to
the hospital, and soon thereafter he [Link] new
family of Roop Kanwar, claimed that she wanted to die
alongside her [Link] case led several feminist
groups to take up the cause of fighting against the
justifications and revival of [Link] claim there
are three groups to blame on this they are:

1) Rajput Men – “for using women`s lives as the

means of propping up old chivalric traditions in a
time when they are otherwise disenfranchised,”
2) Marwari Businessmen- “for imitating and
supporting these traditions in their quest for status
and power and for contributing their wealth and
commercial acumen to perpetuating this custom”, and
finally
3) Brahmins – “for leading an air of legitimacy to
the ethos of Sati as a way to bolster their own
dwindling importance in the modern world”.Many also
claim that if there are no witnesses to the actual
act of Sati it would not possess the meaning it
does .
Suggestions
It is necessary to build social awareness and to
change the mindset of people towards widow. It is
necessary to educate girls encouraging them to be
independent and fight for their own rights. Education
will gave them a sense of independence and will help
them become self reliant.
This will change the attitude of people towards
widows and they will not be treated as parasites in
the society. The social mindset has also to be
changed in the sense that widowers should marry
widows rather then marrying unmarried girls or only
childless widows. None of the reforms contemplated by
various legislation's enacted for the welfare of
widows can achieve success unless and until the
mindset of the society is changed and they become
more receptive to at least thinking of means to
reduce the suffering of widows. Without this change
in mindset, widow remarriages will not be encouraged
or accepted by our society and this problem will only
continue to grow unabated. We cannot, however, say
that there has been no improvement in the conditions
of widows at all. There have been improvements mainly
due to the impetus given by the legislations
mentioned above, but in addition to this there should
be active contribution of the society towards
encouraging widow remarriages and taking efficacious
measures to address the problems faced by them. Only
then will we be able to say that the State has
achieved its welfare purpose as enshrined in the
Constitution.

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 parts of our
Tradition and Culture". For those who abuse widows,
it is a Vulture's culture. It would seem that male
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 are to be enforced in its true
spirit,as it appears that certain amendments in Sati
Act are also required as already discussed
[Link] 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.