'Fight against Sati, toughest moment'

Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva on Friday said ‘the fight against the practice of sati was the toughest decision in her life’. Participating in an interaction organised as part of the International Women’s Day, Alva was answering to a query by Tabassum from Vidya Vikas College in Mysuru.

Alva who was the minister for women and child welfare (later changed as women and child development during her tenure) said ‘there was a furore when a woman performed sati by jumping on to the funeral pyre of her husband in Rajasthan. When the Congress led government in Rajasthan failed to initiate action against the formidable Rajput community, who practiced sati, I offered to step down. It was at that time the then prime minister, came to my support and sought the resignation of the chief minister for failing to act against Sati’.

To another query by Sumaiya Afreen an MBA student from Bahadur Institute for Management Studies, on assessing the equality among men and women, entrepreneur Ushasri said ‘The focus should be on exploring the possibilities’.