As the provincial elections in Gujarat near, the political parties have intensified their war of words. In this melee, the attacks are becoming distasteful and personal in nature, involving family members. The whole saga of hitting below the belt was triggered by Modi’s outrageous remark during the campaign for Himachal Pradesh election. His comment “a 50-crore girlfriend” was a direct jibe aimed at Shashi Tharoor’s wife. Initially, the Congress party took a moral high ground here and called for Modi’s apology and resignation but later it has also indulged in mud-slinging by raking up issue about Modi’s marital status and calling Modi Lahu Purush, monkey, rat, Ravana, etc. Such comments are not new in the Indian political arena. In October, we had the Minister for coal Shriprakash Jaiswal making an indecent comment about women at a function organized at a women’s college in Kanpur. He later apologized for his sexist remark. Self-restraint by the political leaders is the only way forward.
Laws do exist in India that bar such comments directed at insulting women. Similar to most of the laws, they sound good on paper. It’s a long way for Indian women, if they ever have to become a power to reckon with. Until then these are to be taken as tongue-in-cheek remarks. — Bhaskara Sujeet Kumar, Riyadh
War of words
