National

Rogues' Gallery

Antagonising women comes easy to Indian politicians of all hues

Advertisement

Rogues' Gallery
info_icon

SHARAD YADAV
Described by some as "the great socialist bore", he took on prime minister I.K.Gujral's pro-women "western liberalism" in Parliament and ground it to pulp. And he was proud of it. Result: the women's reservation bill still hangs fire and the United Front government in general and Gujral in particular lost their moment in history. To add insult to injury, he targeted women supporters of the bill, describing them as parkatis , a derogatory reference to women with short hair. Howls of protest—some from within his own family—left him unmoved. More recently, an unrepentant Sharad told the NCW: " Mahila vote bhi koi cheez hai? You must be joking." The other Yadavs in Parliament, Mulayam and Ram Kirpal, of the SP and RJD respectively, are not much better.

Advertisement

E.K. NAYANAR
 "As long as there are women, there will be sex scandals," was the reaction of the chief minister of Kerala, India's most literate state, to the unearthing of the Kozhikode call girl racket in which politicians were involved. Nayanar-speak, when questioned on the rising incidence of sexual crimes in the state: "In the US, rape is like drinking a cup of coffee." And it started much earlier. Asked why the frontrunner for the CM's post from his party, the CPI(M), Susheela Gopalan, was not to be the CM after the last assembly elections, Nayanar replied: "If you want to run after women, you are free to do so. I will not." In fact, Nayanar is only echoing the thoughts of veteran Marxist E.M.S. Namboodiripad who accused Arundhati Roy of writing "immoral things about her mother who did not protest". "I am not that kind of communist," he is reported to have said, implying that he would—and did—protest. This, from the leaders of the progressive Left!

Advertisement

PRAMOD NAVALKAR
Maharashtra's thought policeman may have lost a lot of his steam in the past year, but the ol' fire still burns deep in the 62-year-old minister. Foot firmly in mouth, the Shiv Sena's cultural blunderbuss has famously cornered primetime with his allegedly pro-women but effectively philistine stance. Riling against M.F. Husain's 'denigration' of Hindu goddesses, slamming Mamta Kulkarni for posing topless, ranting against Vijay Tendulkar's depiction of Nana Phadnis as a womaniser, raising a stink over Madhu Sapre posing with just a boa covering her vitals...the list is long. But what took the cake was perhaps the clear infringement of a woman's right to work by insisting on restricted working hours for bar girls in the evenings. All this posturing while appreciating the near-nudity of Helen and Jayshree T. in his weekly column and appearing in a Dada Kondke film.

BHAIRON SINGH SHEKHAWAT/ VIJAYARAJE SCINDIA
Although he rarely makes a politically incorrect statement, the Rajasthan chief minister is regarded as woman-unfriendly. In the last year, the state was rocked by a series of crimes against women, often involving politically well-connected individuals. One of Shekhawat's confidants—who is a minister—figures in the Alwar sex scandal case (in which schoolteachers were lured into a sex racket) while a relative of his was reportedly involved in the acid attack on schoolgirl Shivani Jadeja. Recently, Shekhawat welcomed Richpal Mirdha into the BJP. Mirdha disgraced himself in the state assembly by attacking the victim in the J.C. Bose hostel rape case. A relative of his was reportedly involved. Shekhawat confirmed suspicions when he suspended an SP for having taken action on a rape victim's complaint in the Jain muni case. Shekhawat's colleague in the BJP, Vijayaraje Scindia, is also known to hold extremely conservative views in general. Which occasionally spill over into clearly anti-woman statements such as her controversial defence of the Deorala sati incident.

Advertisement

Tags

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement

    Advertisement