Sunday, October 22, 2006
Sita
Pol Pot and his first wife had no children. As he approached his sixties his revolution was losing ground and apparently he got the feeling that he would like to leave a child behind before he died.
He remarried and his new wife had a daughter who was named Sita. In 'Pol Pot, the history of a nightmare' Philip Short doesn't tell much about the daughter or Pol Pot's relationship with her just that he spent a lot of time with his wife and daughter in his mountain hideout.
One of his policies as Khmer Rouge leader was that parents did not own their children. After a certain age they became children of the community. So, did he also follow that policy with Sita or like so many of his other rules there was one for the masses and one for the leaders?
I have to wonder what sort of father he was. Was he kind to her? Did he abuse her? Probably you don't know the answers any more than I do but the questions are interesting. This man who is one of the worst abusers of humanity, how did he treat his child?
The other interesting thought is that now, I assume, Sita is still alive. Somewhere in Cambodia lives a young woman whose father was Pol Pot. Her mother remarried. I wonder if she changed her name. The new husband was also from the Khmer Rouge. Who knows? Is Sita aware of who her father was? She has to be, she was about ten when he died. That can't be wiped from her memory. What sort of person is she? How interesting it would be to have the opportunity to get inside her head.
He remarried and his new wife had a daughter who was named Sita. In 'Pol Pot, the history of a nightmare' Philip Short doesn't tell much about the daughter or Pol Pot's relationship with her just that he spent a lot of time with his wife and daughter in his mountain hideout.
One of his policies as Khmer Rouge leader was that parents did not own their children. After a certain age they became children of the community. So, did he also follow that policy with Sita or like so many of his other rules there was one for the masses and one for the leaders?
I have to wonder what sort of father he was. Was he kind to her? Did he abuse her? Probably you don't know the answers any more than I do but the questions are interesting. This man who is one of the worst abusers of humanity, how did he treat his child?
The other interesting thought is that now, I assume, Sita is still alive. Somewhere in Cambodia lives a young woman whose father was Pol Pot. Her mother remarried. I wonder if she changed her name. The new husband was also from the Khmer Rouge. Who knows? Is Sita aware of who her father was? She has to be, she was about ten when he died. That can't be wiped from her memory. What sort of person is she? How interesting it would be to have the opportunity to get inside her head.
