Bride-burning in India….yes!! a shame, but true..
April 24th, 2010
As we prepare to embark on our journey to India, we are focused on the businesses that we are going to visit, the presentations we will give, and the suits we will have to wear in the hot sun. We have learned about India as an emerging global leader and world’s largest democracy. We will learn about the cultural norms and standards to greet our new friends with respect. But one thing that very few of us have written or read about are the traditions of India that no one wants to talk about. The traditions of human rights violations and practices so horrific that as Americans in a developed country, we can’t even imagine.
I was recently visiting my friend in Los Angeles when she asked me if I had heard of bride burning. “Bride Stealing?” I responded. Bride stealing is a tradition from Kyrgyzstan where men kidnap women off the street and make them get married that day. 85% of marriages in the 1990s were a result of Bride theft, and of those 55% were anonymous. “No, I mean bride burning in India.” She proceeded to describe to me a book she had read which detailed the Indian tradition. “Bride-burning is a form of domestic violence practiced in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and other countries located on or around the Indian subcontinent. A category of dowry death, bride burning occurs when a young woman is murdered by her husband or his family for her family’s refusal to pay additional dowry. The wife is typically doused with kerosene, gasoline, or other flammable liquid, and set alight, leading to death by fire” (wikipedia). Kerosene is cheap and easy to find, saris are flammable, and when the burning is complete, there is no evidence left behind. No knife, gun, body, nothing. It is a perfect way to dispose of evidence and make it look like a suicide, accident, or make it look like it didn’t happen at all.
According to CNN, 2500 women were victims of bride burning in 2008 (read article here http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9608/18/bride.burn/). My friend was under the impression that it was much higher than that and gave me the name of a book she read that details many women’s rights violations all over the world called Half the Sky. If you are interested in reading more about this please visit www.halftheskymovement.org.
The reason I bring this up is that there is a whole side of India that we haven’t discussed in class, and probably won’t get to. The dichotomy of the wealth that is being generated and the innovation that is coming from India, mixed with the traditions that keep it locked in the past are astounding and sobering. I was really disturbed by hearing about this and have been thinking about it for days. Anyone else’s feelings??
-Lindsay Leaver
Entry Filed under: 2010 Student Blogs, India, Misc.
6 Comments Add your own
1. Hemanth | April 24th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Lindsey, thanks for bringing the issue to the fore. However, bride-burning is not a tradition. They are horrific crimes committed by some greedy in-laws who try to extort money from bride’s parents. Dowry is the problem not bride-burning. Bride-burning is a crime. As I was growing up, I remember being disgusted after seeing these horrific deeds in the newspapers and used to wonder how the society’s practices are leading to different crimes and issues. I remember making it clear to my parents about my feeling about dowry-giving or taking. My parents told me that they do not like taking dowry however; they have to give for my sister. They said people will expect dowry for my sister. I made it clear however that I would never support giving or taking dowry. So, let us demarcate tradition and a crime.
Unfortunately, when you hear of such abhorrent crimes, most people make up their mind about a society. For example, to me, slum-dog millionaire is one such poverty porn. Some western and indo-western moviemakers thrive on showing such crimes (like poring wax to make children blind or the unfortunate plight of widows in Varanasi) and depicting India in bad light. People have come up to me and told me they have seen slum-dog millionaire and asked me if 1 in 10 children are waxed in their eyes in India. It is not to say abhorrent crimes like these do not happen in India. But, they are not the norm.
Tell me friends, what kind of global image will be created if I become a reputed director making movies at a global level, depicting lives of just the homeless in America, violent crimes and shootings in America, and show very little of mainstream America. There are problems in every country. India has more problems; I am the first to agree. But don’t sensationalize it. Try to understand the social fabric, investigate root causes of the problems in different places, understand the psyche of people and try and get a good grasp of the history of the region. India is inundated with problems like terrorism, naxalism, rampant corruption, illiteracy, unemployment, red tape, communal problems etc.. Things are changing and they are changing for the better.
2. Michael Minasian | April 25th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I am with Hemanth on this one. I think the crimes are terrible, and need to be brought to light. However, just as I expect my society not to be judged by the acts of a few, or my religion to be judged by the acts of a few extremists, we have to be careful when we find out about crimes, or other unfortunate practices in a country, and then assume it is widespread, accepted, or even traditional!
3. Frederick Peemoeller | May 13th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
2500 out of the 565 million women in India is still quite a low number. In fact, it almost qualifies as six sigma since it equates to roughly 5 out of every million women in India are subject to bride burning. To put it in perspective, a woman has twice the chance to die in an explosion than bride burning. Even though the crime of bride burning is indescribably inhumane, people should understand that this is not the norm even if the actual number is higher. If this became a serious issue, I think Hemanth provided the best solution: The Indian government needs to outlaw taking dowry.
4. LIndsay Leaver | May 16th, 2010 at 10:50 am
I think you guys are misrepresenting my blog post… I am not being critical of India, or the culture. And I understand that brideburning, though it happens too often, is not the norm.
My only point was that when visiting a country, and studying a country as extensively as we have this year, it is important to understand and discuss ALL aspects of that country. Even the ones that are too hard to comprehend.
I am not judging India by this tradition, and yes I understand that in America we have our own problems. However, I still believe it is important and education to bring this stuff to attention.
Lastly, to Hemanth’s point about sensationalizing bride burning. I didn’t. I simply pointed it out and expressed my feelings about it. As far as America sensationalizing things for movies, that is the entertainment business… you know that. Everyone is guilty - even India. Ever seen the movies Water, Earth, or Fire? Are they segregation/discrimination “porn” - to borrow your phrase. Or are they movies, made by and Indian woman to highlight the and combat the problems for women in Indian culture. I think the later.
5. Jason Silver | May 20th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Fred makes a good point about how the numbers of bride burnings is very low in comparison to the total number of women in the country. I’d like to expand on that with the thought that in such a massive country geographically that it is hard to understand the vast amount of cultural differences within it. The amount of diversity within this single country is so great that it is hard to keep track of it all. Wife burning is despicable and the issue of dowry is contentious. What might be acceptable in one area or province could just as easily be looked down upon in another. It is necessary to understand the entire situation and I think we will all get a better understanding, albeit minimal, while we are in India.
6. Wiliam Ary | June 10th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
I think such practices as bride burning are relict of a time when women were uneducated, oppressed and lived as de facto slaves. I have heard of similar practices in the Middle East, but the most atrocious variety is that which occurs in Bangladesh, where spousal abuse can be even more vicious: in some areas, if a woman is found to have cuckolded or refuses a man’s offer of sex or his marriage proposal, she may end up being ambushed and doused with battery acid and left to die or spend the rest of her life horribly mutilated. Typically, the perpetrators aim for the face. I cannot even begin to describe my feelings for the kind of man that would do such a thing.
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