Padmavati : Contʼd from Pg 10
Symbolic interpretations are important to any com- munity’s social structure. But by making Sati and Jauhar symbols of woman’s bravery, strength, pride you are again pushing her into the world of darkness and sor- row where a woman’s body is given more importance than her spirit thus making her a commodity yet again. And Hindu woman raped by a Muslim? Out of ques- tion! Shame is doubled instantly and death is advo- cated as the best option. Remember the same Rajput community would commit atrocities over their women and people; give away their daughters in marriage to powerful kings in exchange of their own survival! Not that there is anything wrong with intra-community marriages. But it is the double standard that is utterly shameful. When the rich and powerful embrace such twisted and false cultural prejudices equating them with pride of a community, it is trickled down to the masses and embraced by all and sundry and eventually becomes a ritual. It’s a historical fact that Rajputs (who according to the census constitute only about three percent of Indian population) lacked war skills and were easily defeated by the more innovative, stunning military and war strategies of the Muslim invaders. While only upper castes could become captains of the Hindu army, Mus- lim kings would encourage strength and skill to rise in the hierarchy irrespective of their caste or religion. Hence many skillful commoners including Hindus could rise to the top of the rung in Muslim army whereas it was impossible amongst Hindu armies. In addition, Rajputs were lazy and spoiled. They had sev- eral in-fights and many plotted against one another to defeat their own clan members. That they gave away many of their daughters in marriage or in exchange for other favors to stronger rulers including Muslim kings is a well chronicled fact and has been a consistent point of shame to the Rajputs. To counter attack these ignoble deeds it is believed that Rajputs and their poets had many gallant poems written in the name of their valor, turning absolute defeats into pride-filled chivalrous deaths. The Rajputs dramatized almost all losses in- cluding that of Prithiviraj Chauhan to make them look like treacherous and deceitful murders by the invaders. They say that best poems come not from the winners but from the losers in war. One such fantasized story is that of Rani Padmavat of Chittor, a poem written by a
husband, Rana Ratansen Singh, and the sultan of Delhi, Alauddin Khalji (also transcribed as Khilji). While all other characters are imaginary why the poet chose to include Khalji’s name in his poem remains a mystery. There are no contemporary accounts of Alauddin’s siege that mention Padmavati. While there are still some historians who believe the story of The Padmavat to be true, almost everyone agree that Alauddin’s march on Chittor was more an expression of an ambi- tious ruler’s campaign of relentless military expansion rather than a lovesick man’s quest for a beautiful woman. Two, even if assuming Rani Padmavati is historical and the story really took place, what is wrong if a di- rector sees it through a different prism and reinvents a scenario? Shakespearean stories, Christ’s life and even the Ramayana were interpreted in several ways by many authors so far. An artist eye travels to places where even the Sun cannot, they say. The thrill of any such creative conflict otherwise would be missing and movies and stories would become religious ceremonies. However, what bothers me more is neither of the above-misplaced narratives but a more perilous and preeminent third one that has the potential to set a dan- gerous precedent for us women now, in 21st century. In this age and generation to where women have travelled through decades fighting inequality, sexism, abuse and rape, to view Jauhar and/or Sati , where women are forced in the name of culture and tradition to commit suicide (horror stories of Sati where women were drugged, tied and poked and forced down on the pyre with sticks to keep them from running away from a rag- ing fire of Sati are well documented facts) are lauded as “bravery,” “honor” “pride (sic),” not only of the women killed but of an entire community and now to overall Hinduism, is alarming. It is shameful to say the least and undermines the hardships and work done by fem- inists and women’s rights’ activists. Centuries of turbu- lent, tear-filled brave fights against prejudice and abuse is being brought down in a jiffy in the name of ‘honor.’ Such outrages over woman’s “honor” is unnerving be- cause it equates “honor and bravery” with a “pure” body. Rape and sexual assault yet again become a vic- tim’s problem and ‘loss of “honor,”and hence death’ equation is peddled as a better choice than living with this bodily “stigma.”
12 www.indiaparentmagazine.org
November 2017
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