Shame on our society: the Supreme Court has to remind us that such obviously disadvantaged people as the widows of Vrindavan have not only to lead a life of dignity but when they leave this world they should do so with their dignity intact.
It is beyond comprehension that the helpless should be left to fend for themselves like this in a country that boasts of several safety nets, like the public distribution system of food, which costs the exchequer several thousand crores of rupees.
What happens to such destitute people — who keep their vow to live in penury upon losing their husbands — on their death is an unspeakable evil in a civilisation that is thought to go back at least 5,000 years to the Indus Valley, and perhaps beyond. How callous we are as a society is well brought out by the fact that all this is happening today despite the plight of these widows having been portrayed in realistic and compassionate style by several filmmakers, including Mira Nair in Water.
Not to have money even to cremate them sounds so bizarre in today’s economy as to warrant the outright condemnation of the apex court as well as members of civil society who are supposed to keep a hawk’s eye over such matters. It would appear we have no system of accountability in anything, least of all in matters concerning humanity. There are many systems for the care of the living. But any designed for those who die destitute must be especially sensitive to the dignity of a human life that has been lived in pain.