Actress and activist Swara Bhaskar’s ‘Jauhar’ comments are not going to stop. After Swara’s objection to Jauhar’s scene in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Padmaavat’, she has received reactions from various quarters. Now, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP has expressed his strong opinion on the issue.
‘Forcing one’s own preferences on women is not ‘feminism’
Amidst this controversy, Priyanka Chaturvedi has questioned Swara’s thinking through an article. According to her, ‘feminism’ does not mean dictating what women should or should not do. Rather, its core idea is to give women the right to take their own decisions. We cannot say that when a woman takes a decision that we like, she is empowered. When we do not like her decision, it does not mean that she has been brainwashed. Not so long ago. During the 2014 Sinjar massacre in Iraq, many Yazidi women and girls chose to die rather than endure abuse, torture and forced conversion at the hands of ISIS terrorists.
‘Life and dignity should not be a choice’
Priya also mentioned that throughout history, women have made difficult decisions for their dignity and existence. She said that instead of seeing such incidents as simply wrong or right by today’s standards, it is necessary to understand the circumstances of that time and the options available to women. Priyanka said that the goal of ‘feminism’ should be to create a world in which women do not have to choose between life and dignity. Earlier, Priyanka Chaturvedi targeted Swara Bhaskar on social media for her ‘Jauhar’ statement without naming her. Now, in a newspaper, she has taken a long-winded dig at her so-called feminist ideology, which equates ‘Johar’, sati and mischief.
Question over ‘honour’ or women’s freedom?
The ongoing debate over ‘Johar’ is not just a disagreement between Swara Bhaskar and Priyanka Chaturvedi. It has taken the form of a larger discussion on history, women’s freedom, wartime conditions and the portrayal of historical events in cinema. On one side, like Swara, the question is raised as to how glorifying self-sacrifice sends a message to today’s society. On the other hand, critics say that historical events need to be understood in terms of their time and social context. ‘Padmaavat’ writer Prakash Kapadia has also argued that the scenes in ‘Johar’ are a portrayal of the reality of that time.
What is ‘Jauhar’?
In medieval Indian history (especially in the Rajput community), it was a historical ritual of mass self-immolation by women to escape humiliation, slavery and sexual violence at the hands of enemies. After the women performed ‘Jauhar’, the male warriors would dress in hair-coloured clothes and go to the battlefield to fight the enemies till their last breath. This entire process is called Jauhar-Saka.
What did Swara Bhaskar say?
Swara Bhaskar had earlier objected to the Jauhar seen in the final scene of ‘Padmaavat’, which released in 2018. She recently raised the issue again at an event. Her argument was that glorifying such a scene could send a message of giving more importance to ‘honour’ than the life of a woman. Along with this, she also raised questions about the rights and lives of women survivors of sexual violence. However, after the controversy escalated, Swara Bhaskar clarified that she did not call Queen Padmavati or the woman who did ‘Jauhar’ ‘cowardly’. According to her, her objection is not to historical women, but to how such scenes are portrayed in modern times. Even after Swara’s clarification, the controversy did not completely stop. There were objections to her statement from various quarters, including the Karni Sena. On the other hand, some people supported Swara’s original question by linking it to the life and dignity of women.
