i remember hearing it in a lecture by an indian professor on youtube, but i cant remember anything else… the account of the ban by the british on wikipedia smacks of white man’s burden, which fits with what the indian professor said in that lecture.
edit: i mean, the brits banned the practice in 1829 and i’m sure they patted themselves on their backs for it, but remember what they were doing in india at the time. they definitely didnt give a shit about indians. listen to this smug british governor writing to some would be widow-burners:
Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs!
yes, very based, widow burning is terrible, but this is a british governor of an indian province, operating the orphan crushing machine on behalf of the british.
sure, but i’m saying he might be a principled anti-imperialist, he might be a well-meaning lib, or who knows. wiki says he’s against US foreign policy and indian hindufascism, so that’s 2 out of 2 correct opinions.
Thanks. I’m familiar with the practice, I was more interested in the (possible) history of it being abused as a human rights wedge issue by the British, as huf suggested.
I can be misremembering, but it seems I recall widows being pressed into low-wage, labor-intensive work or…“other work” because they couldn’t support themselves.
I’m not very familiar with that, do you have some links or recommended reading you can share with me?
i remember hearing it in a lecture by an indian professor on youtube, but i cant remember anything else… the account of the ban by the british on wikipedia smacks of white man’s burden, which fits with what the indian professor said in that lecture.
edit: i mean, the brits banned the practice in 1829 and i’m sure they patted themselves on their backs for it, but remember what they were doing in india at the time. they definitely didnt give a shit about indians. listen to this smug british governor writing to some would be widow-burners:
yes, very based, widow burning is terrible, but this is a british governor of an indian province, operating the orphan crushing machine on behalf of the british.
Well, it does track with the how and why of partitioning. Keep me in mind if you ever run across that lecture again.
i think it might have been this guy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy3KRgc0HE8C1aMDhtEX5np43SxhcjOTC
caveat: i dunno anything about him (or india, really) so he may be some kind of crank
Whomst among us doesn’t love a good crank ;)
sure, but i’m saying he might be a principled anti-imperialist, he might be a well-meaning lib, or who knows. wiki says he’s against US foreign policy and indian hindufascism, so that’s 2 out of 2 correct opinions.
Sati https://www.britannica.com/topic/suttee
Sorry I didn’t see a non-western source.
Thanks. I’m familiar with the practice, I was more interested in the (possible) history of it being abused as a human rights wedge issue by the British, as huf suggested.
I can be misremembering, but it seems I recall widows being pressed into low-wage, labor-intensive work or…“other work” because they couldn’t support themselves.
Oh, well I don’t remember all the details, and of course now everything online has been whitewashed, but I vaguely remember that.