The Lok Sabha on Tuesday had to to be briefly adjourned during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address because of protests by opposition members who alleged that a BJP member had glorified the practice ‘Sati’ in his speech.
The BJP member from Rajasthan, C.P. Joshi, however, clarified that he did not support the banned practice, and perhaps due to an error in translation from Hindi, his reference to “satitva” (chastity) had got mixed up with Sati. He said his remarks had been on the tradition of ‘Jauhar’.
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Mr. Joshi had initiated the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address and had referred to Padmavati, the queen of Mewar, who is believed to have self-immolated when Allaudin Khilji invaded the Chittor fort.
Opposition members, including Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Dayanidhi Maran and A. Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK); Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP); K. Muraleedharan of the Congress party; and Imtiaz Jaleel of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) were on their feet, alleging the BJP member had glorified the practice of ‘Sati’.
Mr. Joshi asserted that he had not made any reference to the practice of ‘Sati’ but had mentioned that Padmavati had performed ‘Jauhar’ (self-immolation) to protect her honour.
“I stand by my words,” he said, as opposition members trooped into the Well of the House. As the protests continued, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the proceedings for 20 minutes. When the House reassembled, Mr. Birla assured the House that objectionable references will be examined and expunged.
“Neither I nor my party has ever supported Sati... Perhaps due to an error of translation, satitva was mixed with ‘Sati’.... My government keeps nation above politics,” Mr. Joshi said.
Participating in the debate later, Ms. Kanimozhi said her head was hanging in shame due to the reference made in the House, even as she did not name the MP.
“Every country, when it talks about its past, has different narrations...Whose past are we talking about? We talk about the greatness of the nation, valour, art, temples, and philosophy. But we can’t forget the people who found no place in history — the untouchables, the unseeable, and women who were pushed in the fire in the name of honour,” she said, adding, ”Today, we celebrate that and I stand on the floor of the House hanging my head in shame because we had to listen to something like that.”
