Ray of hope for “Tiger Widows “ Of Sunderbans

KOLKOTA, Feb 3 ( Madan Jha/VNI) There is now a peeping of ray of hope for hundreds of “Tiger Widows “ like Saraswati,Karuna and Sheela  Of World’s largest Mangrove forest: Sunderbans as West Bengal  govt and an Indian Social organisation have announced to initiate measures for their welfare in near future.

Sundarbans, located at the mouth of the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers between India and Bangladesh, has attained the infamous status of  largest place for Tiger Widows on the earth. The women, who lost their husbands as they were attacked and eaten by Royal Bengal Tigers ,known as the tiger widows of Sundarbans, live lonely, impoverished lives battling more than just the loss of their spouses. In India’s patriarchal society, women are often seen as responsible for any ill fortune that befalls a family. In the Sundarbans most tiger widows are unfortunately branded “swami-khego” or "husband-eaters" by their inlaws. Now ,There will be a sign of relief and smile on the faces of such widows as ministers of the West Bengal government and a prominent Social Reformer have jointly advocated for measures for their rehabilitation and development of the Sunderbans region.

Sunderban’s Karuna Mondal , whose husband was killed by a tiger 10 years ago when he had gone to collect honey in the forest, expressed happiness over initiative. Karuna was in Kolkotta with some other “Tiger Widows “ to attend a day long workshop over the issue of Widows ‘ empowerment. Karuna , Saraswati Chowkidar and Sheela Chowkidar while talking to a group of journalists from Delhi said that there are estimated 1000 widows like them in the Sunderbans who are struggling hard to survive. Over 200 of them are under the age of 25. Addressing Widows from Sunderbans,Vrindavan ,Navdeep,Uttrakhand and Varanasi at a Programme organised by Raja RamMohan Ray Vidyasagar Foundation, Well known Social Worker Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak advocated remarriage by Young Widows whose husbands were 'eaten' by Royal Bengal Tigers. Dr. Pathak who is known for  campaigning against Widowhood by organising Holi ,Dipawali and other rituals for thousands of widows in Vrindavan announced to extend his campaign  for widows of Sunderbans.

The Minister for Public Health and Engineering,Government Of West Bengal,Mr. Subrata Mukherjee while recalling the contribution of both the reformers urged people to help Social organisations which are engaged in welfare of Widows. He said that his government is all set ready to join hand with Sulabh International.

Founder of Sulabh International Dr. Pathak recalled the contribution of both the iconic reformers said that their revolutionary contributions as our source of inspiration for carrying forward the mission of giving a life of dignity to our long-suffering widows, which is at the heart of this Foundation. This workshop was organised with the task—how to mobilize the people to change their negative attitude towards the widows, and how the society at large should accept and give respect to them and thus help them get integrated in the social mainstream, so that they can live in the family and society with respect and dignity—we solicit your cooperation and creative suggestions.


Dr. Pathak initiative began from Vrindavan, and extended our welfare work for widows to Varanasi and Uttarakhand. Sulabh is looking after about 800 widows in Vrindavan, about 200 widows in Varanasi and 154 families including 32 widows in Deoli-Bhanigram Panchayat of Uttarakhand.' Now we are planning to take up the cause of widows at the national level to fulfil the dreams of Raja Rammohan Roy and Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar',added Dr. Pathak. He says,”We strongly feel that all suffering widows should be given stipend and vocational education, so that they could earn their own livelihood and be self-reliant. A book “The contributions of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar for Emancipation and Empowerment of Widows “ was also released on the occasion.