Sania Mirza is an individual first then a daughter or daughter in law

Recent obnoxious statements by some BJP and Congress MLAs in Telangana about questioning the Indianness of a very successful and celebrated tennis player Sania Mirza created a lot of uproar. This totally unnecessary controversy started when the newly appointed government of the newly formed state of Telangana appointed her brand ambassador of the state. Maybe some politicians were not happy with her appointment or maybe they were not happy that she was being paid money to do this job. They have the right to raise their concerns or objections but there is a civilized way to raise objections to these types of issues without making any personal obnoxious remarks. BJP leader K. Laxman called her "daughter-in-law" of Pakistan and questioned her credentials for this particular honor. Calling her daughter-in-law of Pakistan was not required to question her appointment for this job. These lawmakers are looked at as role models by their supporters, if they use this type of language then it sends a wrong message to their supporters. But it was good to see so much support for Sania and condemnation of this statement from many people. These statements show at least two problems present in Indian society. First, it shows their attitude towards women, where many people fail to look at them as individuals, women are always looked at as someone's daughter, sister, wife, daughter-in-law, or mother. Why can't they consider a woman as an independent person with no labels or any relations attached to her? Second, it shows an unjustified bias against certain communities by doubting their patriotism, particularly Muslims or in some cases Christians. Both these problems are a result of ignorance of people and stereotyping of particular gender or community.

I still remember the way they used to teach us why to respect women (or girls), we were taught to respect them because they are also someone's sister, mother, or daughter; the point they wanted to make was to respect other women as you respect women with whom you are related. It was always because she was someone's sister, mother, daughter, or wife not because she was a woman or an individual irrespective of any relationship tag. Why can't we respect everyone just as an individual, just for what they are rather than bothering about who they are? How long do we want to continue with this patriarchal mindset? This mindset is reflected in such comments where many men as well as women fail to look at women as individuals with no tags of relationship or social status attached to them. Another disturbing trend that has been going on for decades in Indian politics and which doesn't show any sign of going away is that whenever any such statement is made political parties either try to justify it or just distance themselves without condemning it or taking any action against the individual in question. I support absolute freedom of speech so according to me these individuals have the right to say whatever they want to say. I have no objection to their right to say these things. If their parties believe in freedom of speech then I welcome their stand of not taking any action against that person for making such statements. But these parties don't believe in freedom of speech, at least their past actions do not indicate this, so, I wonder what is stopping them from condemning such statements. Aren't they indirectly supporting these statements by not condemning them? Do they believe in the bystander's approach? 

Sania is a well-accomplished sportsperson in her own field. She has won many competitions for her country and also has been decorated with many awards and honors. If anyone has any problems with her suitability for the job of brand ambassador, then they should have raised their objections by asking relevant questions, not by questioning her patriotism, personal life, or relationships. These other things are not relevant to the matter of her being a brand ambassador. Just because Sania is married to a Pakistani national she doesn't become a Pakistani, it doesn't give anyone a license to question her patriotism. She is an accomplished Indian and doesn't need to prove this to anyone. She is an individual first and then she is someone's daughter or wife or daughter-in-law. If people can not respect her as an individual or independent woman then they won't respect her no matter she is who's who. I don't have any hope from these traditional political parties who cite hundreds of political compulsions for not criticizing such statements, they keep pointing figures at each other as if pointing out others' mistakes to legitimize their own mistakes. But I expect all rational Indians to object to such behavior. This patriarchal mindset and this bias against any religion or community need to be challenged. No one needs to prove their patriotism just because of their gender or religion, this must stop.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:

1. Sania Mirza controversy: All that has happened till now

Leave aside religion from this incident, lets focus on main issue: BULLYING

News of Shiv Sena MP force-feeding one of the employees of a catering company that supplies food to Maharashtra Sadan (a state guest house in Delhi for VIPs/ State dignitaries/officials of the State Government visiting Delhi) is getting a lot of media attention. The news created a lot of controversy because of the people involved in this incident, MPs (members of parliament) belonging to Shiv Sena (which is a right-wing party) tried to force-feed an employee who was from a Muslim community and was fasting during Ramadan month. So it was really easy to give a communal angle to this news and as expected there was an uproar in the media with so-called secular parties objecting to this incident and others who are sympathetic to Shiv Sena downplayed it as expected. Everything happened as expected, every party directly or indirectly tried to reap some political benefit from this issue.

This is a classic case of bullying, an employee was bullied by MPs who think they are powerful and the law cannot do anything to them. That employee's religion or whether he was fasting or not, whether it was some religious fast or not is really not important here. These public representatives, who are supposed to serve people and respect the law are seen doing such rouge behavior. They could have registered their displeasure about the quality or type of food served to them by using peaceful means. There was absolutely no need to bully an employee by intimidating him and forcefully feeding him the food. For some reason, the main focus of all this debate is that this particular employee was a Muslim, and Shiv Sena is a pro-Hindu party. It seems if this employee had been a Hindu or atheist fasting for health reasons then this action would have been acceptable as no religious sentiments would have been hurt. Religion a person getting bullied should not be an issue, bullying is bad no matter who is the perpetrator and who is the victim. 

Shiv Sena MPs are claiming that they were unaware of the concerned employee's religion when they did this act, it is quite possible that they were unaware of his religion but how does it matter? Does it make this act acceptable if these MPs were not aware of this person's religious affiliation? Obviously, the religious sentiments of the employee were hurt as he was fasting but the whole focus in this issue is wrongly focused on a communal angle leaving aside the broader issue of bullying and misuse of power. When public representatives engage in such shameless and blatant acts of bullying and don't even regret that it sends a wrong message to people. It seems it's okay to bully people if their religious sentiments are not hurt, it's fine to humiliate someone if they make a mistake. Bullying is a social evil and it should not be tolerated under any circumstances. Shiv Sena MPs should unconditionally apologize for this incident not just for hurting that person's religious sentiments but for bullying him. They should accept that whatever they did was wrong irrespective of that person's religion or fast.

Indian parliament also should show some courage and try to punish its misbehaving members setting an example to follow. It seems that parliament has no control over the behavior of its members, it has no power to take any disciplinary action, especially if perpetrators are from parties in power. The real issues always get sidelined or take a back seat in all political drama, finger-pointing, and mud-sledding. Sadly this happens after every incident like this, so far no MP, especially from the ruling party, has been disqualified or even suspended for any rude public behavior or making a derogatory statement. It seems people and institutions seem to base their reactions only on the people involved in it, based on their religion or political affiliation, and not on the severity of the incident. This post is an attempt from my side to request people to look at the real issues and not be carried away by emotions or religious sentiments which all political parties want us to do. Let's use our own minds to decide what is right and what is wrong and then act accordingly.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. Uproar in LS over Sena MPs forcing man to break fast

Israel has right to defend itself but this is not an act of defense

The recent attack by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip in Palestine has stunned many around the world. Indiscriminate brutality displayed towards civilian targets like a disability center and very insensitive comments by some Israeli politicians about Palestinians have shocked many. The images coming out of Gaza about this brutal attack are very disturbing. Neither this conflict nor the violence is new but still whatever is happening has shocked many. Both sides, Israel and Palestine have suffered because of violence related to border conflict. The history behind this dispute is very long and complicated and I don't think we can discuss it on this forum, there is enough material available on the internet related to this issue and interested readers can easily find reliable sources to educate themselves about this conflict. Israel is surrounded by hostile countries from all sides, many of them don't appreciate their existence but because of their military power and support from all over the world none of those countries can do much against them. Many commend them for the way they managed to survive and excel in such a hostile environment. Israel survived all attacks and is now considered the most powerful military power in that region, no other country can match them in technological and military power. It is right to give credit wherever it is due. Between Palestine and Israel, the latter is much more advanced as far as military capabilities are concerned. Terrorist organizations like Hamas (which is now a political establishment also) control parts of Palestine and play a major role in recruiting youths from that region who participate in terrorist activities. There is no doubt that any type of terrorist attack should not be tolerated, but to punish the entire Palestine for the fault of Hamas is wrong and unjustifiable.

If you look at the victims of the Israeli attack there are many innocent women and children who have died for no fault of theirs. It is really sad to see so many children die, and it is heart-wrenching to see the images of some Israelis eating popcorn, and watching attacks on Gaza. Even in war, there are some rules to follow, so much brutality toward civilians is not acceptable. No one is questioning Israel's right to defend itself but whatever they are doing in Gaza right now is not a defense but it is a brutal and indiscriminate attack. The fight between Israel and Palestine is not a war between equals. Israel is much stronger than Palestine in all aspects (technology, precise and advanced weapons, well-equipped military, and international support). This is the reason whenever Israel decides to attack Palestine there is almost no (or minimum) resistance from Palestine, but that doesn't give Israeli military forces a free pass to do whatever they want. Any attack on Israeli civilians is wrong no one can justify it but the killing of Palestinian civilians like this by Israel is also a form of terrorism. If the use of human bombs or missiles by Hamas or any other terrorist organization to kill civilians is wrong then killing civilians by using military forces is also wrong. Two wrongs don't make one right. If one party makes a mistake it doesn't give the other party the right to make the same mistake that too in a much more brutal way. Both actions kill innocent civilians only the methods used are slightly different but both actions are equally condemnable. We humans are so intelligent that we can justify any of our actions. Both sides keep on justifying their violent actions and civilians keep on dying, this conflict has already taken many innocent lives, destroyed many families, and caused immense pain and damage to both sides. This loss of civilian lives must stop. Israel should stop its brutal aggression towards civilians of Palestine and all terrorist acts against them by Palestinian terrorist organizations should also stop. Both sides should try to resolve the issue via diplomacy and discussion. Whatever Israel is doing today in Gaza is wrong and the rest of the world should take a stand against it. So far most responses (including Govt of India's) are very diplomatic, they look more like political responses than humanitarian responses. Once again, most countries of the world chose to remain mute spectators to the loss of civilian lives right in front of their eyes. We have made this mistake in the past and we are repeating it again, the only difference is that one of the victims of the past is the perpetrator in this case, and such is the irony of this situation.  

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Dr. Vedik's case - display of double standards by BJP

A recent meeting between Dr. Ved Pratap Vedik (known to be close to Baba Ramdev, BJP, and RSS) and 26/11 terrorist attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed created a lot of controversy and uproar in Indian media and political circles. This event was heavily politicized just because of the involvement of these organizations. As a reporter Dr. Vedik has the right to meet anyone and conduct an interview, this view was expressed by almost everyone involved in this discussion. But he should tell for which newspaper or magazine or channel he conducted this interview? Where did he publish it so that people can know the contents of that interview? Is he an active journalist, if yes, associated with which journal? He was part of some delegation when he visited Pakistan, I assume that this delegation must have got the Indian government's permission to visit Pakistan as Pakistan is not like any other country where any Indian can go and visit without going through a rigorous review process. Did he inform anyone from the delegation about his plans to conduct this interview? It will be also interesting to know who sponsored his trip to the residence of Hafiz? This guy Hafiz Saeed is an internationally wanted terrorist, and he is accused of carrying out some major terrorist attacks on India which killed hundreds of people. If Dr. Vedik was aware of all these facts then he also must have been aware of the repercussions of this meeting in India, so what was his purpose behind interviewing this terrorist? Why did he publish a photo of his meeting before publishing the interview? He needs to give satisfactory answers to all these questions.

Another interesting thing was the response of the Indian government headed by the BJP. For some reason, they responded by defending Dr. Vedik's actions indirectly. This is the same party that reacted very aggressively when Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik shared the stage with the same terrorist in 2013. They demanded strong action against him (like revoking his passport and arresting him), but they didn't say the same things about Dr. Vedik. Dr. Vedik also gave one interview to some Pakistani media in which he talked about the possibility of granting independence to Kashmir. I have no problems with his personal views about Kashmir or any other issue and he has the right to express his thoughts, he should be able to share his views without worrying about any intimidation from the government or anyone else. But it seems the BJP and its supporters don't believe in the existence of freedom of expression when it doesn't suit them, and I am saying this based on their reactions to such statements in the past. Many times in the past they tried to vandalize homes and public buildings or even attack people who made controversial statements related to Kashmir or said anything that didn't align with their stand on any sensitive issue. Their silence in this case was a pleasant surprise. It is not that I would have liked their violent reactions but I am surprised to see that they base their reaction on who is making the statement but not the content of the statement. So, it seems to them the person who is making the statement is more important not the content of the statement. If the person is from their party or a supporter of their party or someone close to their associates (which Dr. Vedik is) then it is fine if they say anything but the same courtesy is not offered to other individuals (the example of Mr. Prashant Bhushan must be very fresh in people's memory). 

This is a blatant display of double standards by the BJP. If they believe in freedom of expression, it is really great news and I congratulate them for this. But they should show it in their behavior towards everyone irrespective of their party affiliations or political ideologies not only for selected individuals otherwise it is called double standards or hypocrisy. Surprisingly they are doing this when they have no pressure of coalition politics (this excuse was used by Congress on many occasions). The BJP has an absolute majority on its own in the parliament. It is easy to be harsh and critical about people from the opposition party or other people not related to you but when a person from your own group does something serious and you keep mum or try to justify their actions then it is hypocrisy. So far, the BJP's attitude is the same as Congress which used to justify each and every action of their leaders in the past. I hope the BJP realizes its mistake as they have a long way to go, these are just the initial days of their new government so I hope that they will take necessary corrective measures not to repeat these types of mistakes. If not, then we all know what happened to Congress same thing will happen to them sooner or later.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Being average is not bad at all

Most of us consider ourselves average or people around us label us as average. We make efforts to get rid of this "average" tag as we feel it means "not good" or "below par."  We are people who try our level best, and work really hard but still can't reach that so-called top level. We are the students who, despite our best efforts can't make it to that honor roll, we can't get admitted to these so-called elite institutes or crack those entrance exams, our best writings or our oratory skills can't match many who seem to do it effortlessly. There are still spelling mistakes in our writing, our sentences sometimes don't make any sense, and we make some mistakes that get us in trouble. This list can go on but I think readers got the point which I want to make here. So, many people are termed average in conventional terms based on their professional achievements, financial status, or lifestyle. Actually, our society uses many parameters to judge how successful a person is, most of the time professional and financial success tops the list. As I mentioned earlier many people constantly try very hard to get rid of the "average" tag. It is always good to aspire to go to the next level but it is not good to lose self-confidence because of some social stereotyping. 

People who earn sufficient money enough for their needs, who are happy with what they are doing in their life irrespective of how much money they make are many times considered average or ordinary. Many times they get this tag just because they don't earn a crazy amount of money, they don't have an extravagant lifestyle and no magazine or news channel considers them as a celebrity. These people are not considered as newsmakers, money spenders, or party throwers. Their contribution or presence is hardly noticed by others as they don't stand out. In reality, the contribution of these average or ordinary people matters a lot towards the well-being of our society. Terms like average, above average, or extraordinary are relative terms. Different people use different criteria to decide who belongs to which group. I always try to focus on my efforts and my personal behavior without worrying about in which category people put me. If I know that I am giving my best under given circumstances then it doesn't matter if the outcome is average or above average in conventional terms, for me, it is giving my best matters most. What others say matters very little if I am happy with my efforts. It is important to learn from mistakes and try not to repeat them. We all make mistakes, it is impossible to avoid them. Some people learn the lesson in one shot and some learn it the hard way but learning is what matters. Next, criticism as well as appreciation are very important and should be always welcomed. Feedback from others can be used as a motivation for self-improvement but it should not be detrimental to our confidence. We need critics as well as cheerleaders in our lives. Many get affected negatively because of comments they receive from others. It is impossible to please everyone around us, there will be some criticism from someone no matter what we do. Being called an average doesn't mean something bad or there is something wrong with us, it just means people think we can do better. Average doesn't always mean below par, the meaning of the term depends on the situation and context it is used. It can be taken in a very positive way, as I said any feedback should be useful to boost our confidence not detrimental to it. Nowadays because of all these motivational pep talks, the word average or ordinary almost sounds like abuse, many people don't like these terms if they are used to describe them. If a person is happy and giving her/his best effort then it is the best possible scenario for that person and our society. Then it doesn't matter what people or society thinks about him/her according to me that person is successful. We need to focus on giving our personal best and forget about the labels given by society. Just give your best and forget the rest.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Patriarchy is one of the oldest surviving ideology

The title of the blog is from a sentence taken from this video which delivers another tight slap on the world's, especially India's patriarchal culture. I really don't know how many slaps like this our society needs to wake up and realize that our culture is outdated and we need to change. Actually, it would be unfair to blame only India for having a patriarchal society or culture, it is prevalent more or less in all parts of the world, but I am going to discuss this only about Indian society as I come from that society and can comment about it based on my personal experience. In ancient times when the development in science was not much, most jobs or even day-to-day tasks used to require a lot of physical stamina and power men became superior in every society due to their physical strength compared to women. This superior physical strength gave them a natural advantage and dominance, they seized this advantage and made all rules and traditions which heavily suited them. Patriarchy is dominant in all cultures and religions. This natural advantage allowed men to design society as per their own needs and slowly role of women was reduced to support them, satisfy their needs, and help in reproduction. This system continued for many many years until we saw the emergence of feminist movements where women started demanding fair and equal treatment. For many cultures this demand for equality was a shocker, they couldn't believe that women could demand something like this, and this is why feminists are still targeted all over the world, to protect patriarchy.

Some people might ask the question, what is wrong with patriarchal ideology? Why do we want to change this ancient culture? Patriarchy has been going on for years and society survived with those values and customs so why do we need to change? Actually, even today many people want to preserve or continue with these types of traditions in the name of culture or religion, they defend them because this thing was invented by their great-forefathers. They believe that as their forefathers were very farsighted and intelligent so how can anything practised by them be bad? Somehow they fail to see that these practices are discriminatory and biased in nature, most of these traditions favor men and put women and other genders at the receiving end with unequal rights. Just because something is old is not a good reason to discard anything, one has to evaluate and test before making any decision. If the system is old, seriously malfunctioning, and harmful to certain sections of society then definitely we need to discard it. A system that treats nearly half of our population as secondary citizens definitely needs to go, no matter how old it is.

This patriarchal culture is directly or indirectly responsible for many traditions or rules that are biased against women. These types of rules are present in every culture and religion. Their influence is so strong that not only men but many women also defend them and oppose any reforms. Because of years of suppression, women are brainwashed to believe that they are the weaker sex and need the presence of men in their lives for protection and survival in our society. This all needs to change, but this change is not easy, as even many women believe that by nature they are inferior to men and they have to be dependent on men for social recognition. It will take a lot of awareness to change this mentality, challenging any age-old belief is not an easy task. Consistent efforts from feminist groups and more participation of women are necessary to make this possible. As long as women don't help themselves no amount of external help will be enough to elevate their status in society. the fight for equality is not easy and equality comes at a cost and women need to be ready for that. Women need to prepare themselves to bear this cost and carry the burden of responsibility that comes along with this, if not, then patriarchy is here to stay forever. If women are not willing to take control of their own lives, men will keep their control of almost every aspect of their lives, this is what patriarchy is. Patriarchy is as strong as organized religion, and it is an integral part of every religion. During the past few decades, feminist movements have made a big dent in it due to their consistent efforts but still lot needs to be done. I am glad to see that many women are coming forward now to challenge patriarchy, this is a good sign. Patriarchy might be one of the oldest surviving ideologies but the time has come for it to go. Just imagine lifting barriers from the minds of half of the world's population, imagine lifting the burden of '"being a man" from the minds of other half of the world's population. People will be free from social pressure to fit into stereotypes associated with their gender. If this happens it will be one of the greatest events in the history of human civilization. With our consistent efforts I am sure this will happen, so let's keep trying.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. A Group Of Women Speaks Up To Send A Very Powerful Message To The Indian Male Dominated Society

No one can have it all

In her recent interview, PepsiCo CEO Indra K Nooyi said "Women cannot have it all".  Actually, I don't know what she means by particularly mentioning women in this statement. Is she referring to work-family life balance? Did she mean that women with successful careers won't be considered as good wives or mothers? Or was she talking about the guilt factor that they cannot pay enough attention to their family, which troubles many women who work? Actually, who can have it all? Can men have it all? Can rich people have it all? Doesn't each one of us have to sacrifice something to get something in our life? 

In her interview, she also expressed some instances in her life when she felt that she was not being a good parent. She specifically mentioned her inability to attend coffee sessions which her daughter's school has especially for working women. I wonder if that school had similar coffee sessions for working dads? If not, why? If yes, then how many dads felt guilty for not attending it? Did she feel more guilty because as a woman and mother, she felt it was her duty (compared to her husband's) to attend these functions and cater to her kid's parenting needs? If this is so, then this begs the question of why it is expected only for moms to be more available for their kids, why can't dads be a primary caretaker parent? As a society aren't we mature enough to understand that parenting is not a gender-specific job. If a mom can be a CEO then dad can definitely attend to kid's needs. 

Another point that is worth considering is, why she felt guilty? She is a successful professional who achieved very commendable success in her professional field. Is she worried that as she is a woman people might judge her differently as a parent and will question her commitment towards her family because of her professional success? Isn't it common to feel guilty for not attending your child's school function or performance no matter whether you are a dad or a mom? Why does a working mom feel more guilty about these things compared to a working dad? The standards would be the same for both genders, one should not assume that men don't feel the same attachment towards their children as women feel, or that dads cannot take care of their kids as well as moms can. 

The truth is we all make some sacrifice in our lives for various reasons. We all get judged by society or by our friends and family in some way. There is always something that we miss, we always choose what we think is most important at that moment in life. Those choices can be right or wrong in retrospect, but we all make them thinking that we are making the right choice. Different people prioritize things differently, something that is important to me may not be important to someone else. Actually, no one can have it all. It doesn't matter whether women or men they all gain some things and lose some things during their personal and professional life. It is unfair to say that only women can't have it all. They are conditioned to feel more guilty compared to men and this discourages some women from committing fully to their professional life, but most men don't think twice before doing this. May be intention of Indra Nooyi was good but her statement conveys a wrong message. Choose the path that suits you the best, give your best effort, and then enjoy the journey, that's what matters the most. Men or women, no one can have it all, and like men women should not feel bad or guilty about it.

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Just an apology is not enough Mr. Tapas Pal

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) member of parliament (MP) Mr. Tapas Pal was in the news for all the wrong reasons. During one of his speeches, he threatened to kill CPM (opposition party in West Bengal) workers and get their women raped by his boys. The statement as such is derogatory and offensive, very insulting to women, and a threat of violence. He is inciting people to engage in violent activities like murder and rape, so, this is not about his freedom of expression right as this right doesn't include incitement of violence. No surprise that there was a huge uproar in the media against his statement. This was not the first time he made such a statement, it seems in the past also he said something similar which went unnoticed by the media. This guy is one of the lawmakers of our country, such people sit in our parliament and decide what is good for the people of our country. If people with such regressive and criminal mindsets are sitting in our parliament then one can imagine what can be the situation of law and order on the ground.

Here also the usual circus happened. First, there was uproar in public against his statement, second, media debates happened to sensationalize the issue, and finally, Tapas offered an unconditional apology and nothing happened beyond that. He was not sacked, and so far parliament hasn't taken any action against such remarks by one of its members. I am sure Mr. Tapas will continue as Trinamool's MP and will complete his term without facing any political consequences for his actions. This storm will also die and everyone will continue as if nothing happened. All other political parties who are up in arms currently also have many skeletons in their own closets, they all need to take some action against someone but nothing that sort will happen. It seems some MP or minister or leader from every party is busy making some regressive statements to justify and encourage rape culture. A recent Goa minister's statement about banning bikinis on Goa beaches, or stopping girls from going to pub because he thinks it's against Indian culture is another example of putting blame on the victim in the cases of sexual assault. This trend is disturbing and so far no political party has taken any serious action against any person who made such statements. This clearly shows their casual attitude towards this issue. They all speak all the time about women's safety and empowerment, and they all make very tall promises about this in their manifestos but in reality, their actions don't match their words.

The statements made by all these people are bad enough but the reaction of the political parties to which they belong or the institutions which they represent (like parliament or assembly) is even worse. We all know the hypocritical behavior of all these political parties but it seems even the hands of powerful institutions like parliament and judiciary are also tied in these matters as they fail to take any disciplinary action against these people. These people shamelessly make such statements and then offer an apology, that too only in some cases apology is offered, most of the time they claim they were quoted out of context. They all feel that such excuses are enough to bury the issue and move on. When people see politicians making such statements and getting away with it, it conveys a wrong message. Will it help to stop rape culture? Definitely NO. We need to be more sensitive against any such remarks, they should not be encouraged. There is no strong deterrent now that can stop powerful people from doing these things. They all know that nothing will happen to them except some bad publicity. Attempt to incite violence must have some consequence. I hope our judiciary and parliament don't fail us again this time. They need to set some precedence. Just an apology is not enough, strong action against such behavior is required if we expect them to stop. If we fail then we will see another statement like this in the media after a few days or months, the name and the political party may change but the statements won't, they will keep on coming and we will keep on wondering why criminalization or politics doesn't stop and why so many rapes keep on happening?

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[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]