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UTTAR PRADESH Medieval Madness An act of desperation by a distraught widow in the backward Bundelkhand region becomes a cause for a grand religious celebration by the region. By Subhash Mishra At day break on November 11, Satpura was just another dusty, nondescript hamlet in the backward Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. By sundown, the sleepy village had been transformed into a hub of an impromptu, cacophonous carnival. For miles around one could hear the chanting of mantras and blowing of conches as hundreds of chattering men and women -- with children merrily prancing alongside -- made a beeline for a small plot of land on the outskirts of Satpura in Mahoba district. The coconuts, the incense sticks, the flowers and the red chunri that the people carried and the general festive atmosphere pointed to a grand religious celebration. It wasn't. By some twisted logic, the village folk were celebrating the macabre death of a woman who had burnt herself alive on the funeral pyre of her husband after he died of tuberculosis that morning. The poor Dalit woman who single-handedly looked after her ailing husband -- the villagers refused to accompany her to the cremation ground because he had TB -- has suddenly become an object of worship. She's the satimata, a new icon in the region. Shunned when alive, she has nearly acquired the status of a goddess now. Life was anything but exalted for Charanshah, 50, wife of Manshah Ahirwar, 55, a Dalit farmer. His protracted illness forced her to take on the task of looking after the large family. The six acres of rocky agricultural land didn't provide enough to feed the family. After he died on November 11, Charanshah had to arrange his funeral herself. Recalling the incident, a relative Prakashrani says, "Charanshah asked family members to accompany the body with a band and orchestra. But as no one took her seriously, she lapsed into silence." Most "eyewitnesses" are confident Charanshah committed sati, but since they all tend to glorify such suicides, it is difficult to say what really happened. Says her son Shishupal: "She circumambulated the lit pyre four times, folded her hands and then climbed on to it without screaming or shouting. Before we could rush to rescue her, she was burnt to ashes." The news of the "sati" spread faster than the blaze that engulfed her and people immediately began converging on the spot. By the time the Additional District Magistrate Chintamani and SP Ravi Kumar reached the spot -- they were informed only in the evening -- nearly 2,000 people from adjoining villages had already gathered at the site. Satpura was witnessing a frenzy of religious ritual and activity. Myth and superstition overtook rationality and humanity. The police stepped in to try and stem the hysteria created by the incident. It cordoned off the area and detained five members of the family, some of whom said the police was using force. "The police forced us to say that Charanshah was insane and she committed suicide," her son Shishupal told media people. Three days later, the police registered a case of suicide -- believe it or not -- against the dead Charanshah. In order to play down the episode, H.R. Phogat, dig Chitrakoot Dham, has warned the people against glorifying the incident. The police claim to have received the inquiry report which declared that the widow was insane and suffered hysterical fits. But it has failed to produce any medical reports to corroborate the claim. Reacting to the incident, S.P. Srivastava, IG (crime), says, "The incident and its glorification by the people establishes the fact that myths and superstitions are so deeply rooted in our society that reforms have not reached them." He further said it was a simple case of suicide by a woman, but had been blown out of proportion as a case of sati by the locals. Sati or suicide, a new lore has been added to the innumerable sati tales in the region, which has seen nearly 25 women burn themselves on their husbands' pyres in as many years. Javitri Devi of Jaari, a small village in Banda district, is one of the prominent ones. A huge temple was built in 1979 in her memory from the money collected in the impoverished village which did not even have a dispensary. Rameshwar Prasad, the temple's priest, says on an average 15 people visit the "sati mandir" and during Navratri thousands come to "seek blessings from the satimata". Several such sati mandirs and chabutaras dot the region's landscape, which has few other essential amenities. After Rajasthan, Bundelkhand has had the maximum number of sati incidents in the country, with the three districts of Mahoba, Banda and Hamirpur accounting for more than a dozen. The practice is linked to the socio-economic backwardness of the region, where there are few schools and the nearest hospital is hundreds of miles away. Manshah had to go to a town in Madhya Pradesh for treatment. Social reform movements have yet to make a dent in the region and the status of women is dismal. "Being a widow is perceived as a disgrace, while sati culture is glorified," says Kusuma Kushwaha, a city corporator, who added that in this situation it should not be surprising if anyone commits suicide or sati. Till a few years ago, even the district administration ignored the practice. One of Jaari residents recalls that when the Javitri Devi incident took place nearly 20 years ago, the police had actually made arrangements for the people to have darshan of the sati mandir and the transport department had issued special permits for the Jaari route for the buses. Nor has it ever discouraged the people from visiting sati temples and chabutaras in Banda and Mahoba. The Bundelkhandis also have a tradition where a couple visits a sati temple immediately after their marriage and the bride promises the satimata she will stay with her husband throughout her life and thereafter do "as you did ". What's amazing is that even educated people in the region find nothing wrong with such customs. "All this is a part of our tradition and customs," says Anil Upadhyaya, former principal of a degree college and a local historian, who actually defended sati and condemned the government for interfering in "voluntary sati". In fact, the people of the region are proud that they have given so many satimatas. They seem to have the support of local politicians in this. Jeevan Lal Chaurasia, a BSP leader from the region, demanded that the people be allowed to worship the spot where Charanshah died and called upon the police to "stop interfering in religious faith of the people". Obviously, a comment made with an eye on the vast Dalit Hindu vote bank. In fact, most local politicians have stopped short of condemning the glorification of the incident. As the crowds keep coming, the district administration is vigilant. A riot-control vehicle, two extra contingents of the PAC and a huge posse of policemen have been deployed. But local people are unfazed by these measures. "Main to yahan per sati mandir banwaoonga (I will get a sati mandir made here)," says Charanshah's nephew Garibe. Force is obviously not the weapon to fight a mindset like that.
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