Holika dahan: Looking for caste interpretation amidst celebrating burning of the woman?

By Rajiv Shah
Today is Holi -- the day to "celebrate" the burning alive of a woman, Holika, who on being told by her brother Hiranyakashipu, an Asura king, to sit on pyre with his son Prahlad, a Lord Vishnu devotee. According to the legend, Hiranyakashipu plotted murder of his son Prahlad by asking his sister Holika, draped in fire-resistant boon, to sit in bonfire with nephew Prahlad in her lap.

Hiranyakashipu did this to avenge his younger brother Hiranyaksha's death at the hands of Varaha, the avatar of Lord Vishnu. He didn't like Prahlad to be the devotee of Lord Vishnu, hence decided to kill the latter.

However, Prahlad’s prayers to Lord Vishnu ensured that he was safe from the deadly flames, while Holika caught fire.

Whatever the legend, the very idea of celebrating the burning of a woman appears despicable. While there have been several interpretations of the legend -- with some stating that being an Asura was equivalent to Dalit, while others claiming Holika was a Brahmin -- the celebration of the event as victory of good over evil seems terrible.

Somewhere it smacks of the now abolished Sati tradition (though still being celebrated as pious!), which forced women to sit on pyre on the death of her husband.

I am left wondering: Why look for caste interpretation when the issue at stake is celebration of violence against a woman?

Comments

Civil society at a crossroads: Service delivery vs. rights in the fight for social change

Counterview News In the latest episode of the podcast Unmute , hosts Gagan Sethi and Minar Pimple convened a profound conversation with two veteran development practitioners to dissect a persistent tension within civil society: the perceived divide between service delivery and the struggle for rights. The episode, titled "Beyond Service Delivery: Civil Society, Rights, and the Politics of Social Change," featured Apoorva Oza , a development practitioner with decades of experience in rural development and institution-building, and Professor Dipa Sinha , a development economist known for her work on food, nutrition, gender, and social policy.

Grain vs. gasoline: How the global biofuel boom threatens India’s food and water security

By Rajiv Shah A new report published by the international research and advocacy organization GRAIN has warned that the global resurgence of biofuels is triggering a dangerous dynamic of “more fuel, less food, more land grabs.” Driven by intersecting energy security concerns, geopolitical tensions, and aggressive decarbonization mandates, the expanding agrofuel industry is increasingly pitting corporate energy interests against global food security and indigenous land rights.

Sikkim governor row: ALIFA asks centre to explain hurried appointment in Ankita Bhandari case

By A Representative The All-India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA) on Saturday expressed “immense pain and outrage” that even after four years and a national uproar, justice has not been fully delivered in the Ankita Bhandari murder case and that a ruling party politician facing allegations has been “gifted a high-ranking constitutional office.” In a statement, ALIFA extended “unflinching solidarity” to Ankita’s parents, who it said are “fighting for justice on the streets of Delhi,” and demanded that pending the CBI inquiry and judicial decision, the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim’s Governor be subject to “immediate presidential review.”

Counterview

Search This Blog