Friday, April 6, 2007

Delicate Cultural Situation with a Simple British Solution


Sir Charles James Napier (August 10, 1782 – August 29, 1853) was a British general and Commander-in-Chief in India. The city of Napier, New Zealand, is named after him. He is famous for conquering Sindh province now in present-day Pakistan (Muslim).

A quote for which Napier is famous involves a delegation of Hindu locals approaching him and complaining about prohibition of Sati, often referred to at the time as suttee, by British authorities. This was the custom of burning widows alive on the funeral pyres of their husbands. The exact wording of his response varies somewhat in different reports, but the following version captures its essence:

"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

2 comments:

Herman said...

Simple and just!
I wish we had politicians who have the courage to stand up against barbarism, aka islam

Unknown said...

the Democrats are too concerned about votes and I think the Republicans just don't give a damn