Actress and contestant on reality TV show Bigg Boss in 2008, Payal Rohatgi is now part-time actress and full-time social media provocateur. As someone who believes that the Kerala flood was punishment for the beef-eaters of the state, who has been in various public social media spats and has also been quite vituperative about other women in public life and show biz, her fame precedes her. Her recent comment about Indian reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy seems to indicate that if her objectionable comments are meant to keep her in the public eye, she is succeeding splendidly.
According to Rohatgi, one of India’s most beloved reformers of the 18th and 19th centuries was a ‘chamcha’ (sycophant) of India’s colonisers. According to her tweet, sati, the practice of women dying on the funeral pyre of their husbands, is a matter of ‘choice’ and is not a regressive tradition.
This commentator pointed out a few facts; that sati and jauhar are two different phenomena and a few other pertinent facts which some seemed to have a limited understanding of.
Not only was Sati outlawed, its glorification – which could possibly glorify suicidal tendencies and mask attempted murder – is also a punishable offence. This was pointed out in a tweet addressed to the Mumbai Police and the National Council of Women. Rohatgi was quick to clarify in a subsequent tweet, that she was not glorifying sati, merely criticising Raja Ram Mohan Roy and questioning his motivations.
Filmmaker and journalist Pritish Nandy reacted to the tweet by saying “here come new India's historians,” perhaps referring to a recent trend that attempts to rewrite history and change text books.
The reactions to Rohatgi’s tweet were overwhelmingly negative; with one commentator going so far as to suggest marriage to a dying man so that Rohatgi could herself participate in the tradition that she seems to admire.
This tweet uses sarcasm to denounce the tweet. Others expressed anger at what they saw as the ‘defamation’ of one of India’s most important and beloved reformers.
A lot of commentators thought that the tweet is a sign of madness.
Some regretted seeing something so ridiculous early in the morning. Many others thought that this was just a sad attempt to stay relevant; to get a reaction by making vicious and ill-informed statements often about some of India’s most iconic personalities.
This tweet points out a recent trend that seeks to retell history and malign historical figures as well as their contribution to development and reform.
It was pointed out that Raja Ram Mohan Roy not only worked for the abolishment of sati, but also against polygamy and child marriage. He worked for the dismantling of the caste system and asked for equal inheritance for women.
Writer Raghu Karnad makes a good point that Rohatgi’s comments should not be amplified; instead they should be ignored and consigned to the indignity of obscurity as they deserve to be. However, as an opinionated blogger, I feel that such distortions and regressive mindsets need to be called out. It is also heartening to know most commentators denounced the tweet and actually served to inform many about the salutary work done by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and other reformers from India’s tumultuous past.
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