Even a cursory examination shows that few politicians have covered themselves in glory when it comes to talking about women. Worse, such backward-looking sentiments are espoused by both men and women politicians
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil telling NCP MP Supriya Sule to “go home and cook” instead of being in politics certainly has, forgive the pun, stirred the pot.
Patil made the remarks on Wednesday during a protest by the state BJP unit in Mumbai for seeking reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in elections.
“Why are you (Sule) even in politics, just go home and cook. Go to Delhi or to a cemetery, but get us the OBC quota. Despite being a Lok Sabha member, how come you don’t know how to get an appointment with chief minister,” Patil told Sule, the daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
While the NCP was quick to clap back at Patil, even a cursory examination of politics shows that few have covered themselves in glory when it comes to talking about women. Worse, such backward-looking sentiments – from both men and women politicians – are far from rare.
Let’s take a look at some of the most infamous and sexist comments:
‘Dented and painted’
Perhaps the most offensive remark on this list came in the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gangrape. With the nation still in a state of shock, Abhijeet Mukherjee, the son of former Indian president and late Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee blithely referred to protesting women as ‘dented and painted’.
“I would term the protests in Delhi as what is popularly known as Pink Revolution. It is becoming fashionable to land up on the streets with candle in hand. Such people are completely disconnected from reality. They go to discotheques. I am very well versed with student activism and I can bet on it that most of the protesters are not students. They are dented and painted women chasing two minutes of fame, giving interviews on TV. The protesters do not fall in the age group of students,” Abhijeet claimed.
‘Boys will be boys’
Another hall of fame entry came from Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Two years after the Nirbhaya case, Yadav, trying to defend three men convicted of gang-raping a woman in Badaun said ‘boys will be boys, they make mistakes’.
In a Moradabad rally, he had said, “First girls become friends with boys. Then when they have differences between them, girls level rape charges. Boys commit mistakes. Will they be hanged for rape?”
Yes, please.
‘Rapes sometimes wrong, sometimes right’
In June 2014, Madhya Pradesh home minister Babulal Gaur claimed rape is ‘sometimes wrong and sometimes right’ and that no government could prevent it.
“It is a social crime which depends on the man and the woman. It is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Unless a complaint is filed, nothing happens,” he said. “It is not possible for any government to ensure that rape is not committed. Action can be taken only after the act is done,” he had told reporters.
‘Rapes happen because men and women interact freely’
Lest one imagines that only male politicians are capable of such remarks, in 2012, Mamata Banerjee expounded the theory that rape cases in the country were on the rise due to men and women interacting with each other more freely.
“Earlier, if men and women would hold hands, they would get caught by parents and reprimanded, but now everything is so open. It’s like an open market with open options,” Banerjee said.
‘If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way’
Making excuses for men and shifting the burden on women is a common theme.
In 2014, Manohar Lal Khattar, at the time an MLA from Karnal, said: “If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way.”
Responding to a question on whether young people should have freedom of choice, the BJP politician said, “If you want freedom, why don’t they just roam around naked? Freedom has to be limited. These short clothes are western influences. Our country’s tradition asks girls to dress decently.”
‘Molestation bound to happen’
This gem [note the sarcasm please] came in 2017 from Abu Azmi after an incident of molestation in Bengaluru.
Azmi said the molestation was bound to happen since women consider nudity as fashion, as per India Today. He also threw the not-so-helpful advice: that women should not roam around after dark unless accompanied by male family members. Sounds familiar.
“If a girl celebrates after dark she should go with her husband, father and not with strangers. There should be strict action against those going against our culture,” said Abu as per India Today.
Azmi thoroughly embarrassed himself and his family – with daughter-in-law Ayesha Takia and his son Farhan Azmi taking to Twitter to disavow his remarks.
As we will see, the Samajwadi Party leader is a repeat offender in the most sexist remark sweepstakes.
A year prior, Azmi said, “Women are precious like gold. If you expose them, they’ll be looted. Women should not move around like men late night. They are weak, so they should think before they venture out.”
In 2014, he also argued that women should be hanged if they are raped. Deccan Chronicle quoted him as saying: “Rape is punishable by hanging in Islam. But here, nothing happens to women, only to men. Even the woman is guilty.”
‘When rape is unavoidable, one should enjoy it’
Expounding on rape seems to be a common theme for these male politicos.
In December 2021, senior Congress leader and former Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly KR Ramesh Kumar, during a discussion on the farm laws in the Assembly, told the current Speaker: “When rape is unavoidable, one should enjoy it”.
While the remark itself was repulsive, the sound of laughter from others in the Assembly was equally sickening.
’90 percent rapes consensual’
In 2012, Haryana Congress leader Dharambir Goyat sparked outrage by claiming that 90 per cent of the cases involved “consensual sex”.
“The girl gets into an affair with a boy and she goes with him without knowing that he is of criminal mindset. It’s not the state government which is responsible for rapes. In fact in most of the cases it is consensual sex,” Goyat had said.
The leader had been asked about increasing rape cases in the state that year for which the state government has been facing criticism from Opposition parties.
‘Wife loses charm’
In 2012, already in the eye of a storm over the coal block allocations which the government auditor has faulted for allegedly causing massive loss to the exchequer, Sriprakash Jaiswal added to his woes when comparing India’s T20 win over Pakistan to marriage.
Addressing a cultural event in Kanpur, Jaiswal said, “A new victory and a new marriage have their own importance. But as times passes, the memories of a victory go old and as time passes, a wife gets old, the same charm is not there.”
‘Getting money from the US’
In 2011, then West Bengal chief minister in an unprecented move openly censored senior CPM leader Anil Basu for his derogatory remarks against Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.
“Mamata herself had admitted that many people from Chennai and Bangalore wanted to donate funds to her party, but she had refused to accept them. She was right as she is getting money from the US,” Basu claimed.
When a rich man goes to a brothel, a prostitute would prefer attending her rich client and would not attend a poor one,” Basu added.
‘Bholi Bhali ladki’
In 2019, BJP’s Gopal Shetty claimed Urmila Mantogkar was picked by the Congress only for her looks. “Urmila ji has been brought to politics because she is a celebrity and because she is a celebrity, she has been brought due to how she looks, why anyone would feel bad about it, there’s no reason… She is a bholi bhali ladki who is zero in politics.”
‘Hema Malini’s cheeks’
Indian politicians across the political spectrum seem to have a strange obsession and fascination with BJP MP and Bollywood actor Hema Malini.
Her cheeks, to be specific.
On Friday, Chhattisgarh Minister of Commerce and Industries Kawasi Lakhma compared the smoothness of the roads built in the state’s Narayanpur district with the cheeks of Bharatiya Janata Party MP and Bollywood actor Hema Malini.
Lakhma said, “…15 years ago there was no road here. We constructed several km of roads in the constituency now the smoothness of the roads are like Hema Malini’s cheeks.”
While Lakhma was saying this, state chief minister Bhupesh Baghel was seen sitting behind him and smiling. The minister was addressing the people in the state’s Bastar district.
In December, Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil. He compared the roads in his constituency, Jalgaon, to Mathura MP Hema Malini’s cheeks.
NDTV quoted Patil as saying, “Those who have been MLAs for 30 years should come to my constituency and see the roads. If they are not like Hema Malini’s cheeks, then I will resign.”
Earlier, Lalu Prasad Yadav, when he was the chief minister of Bihar, also had made a sexist remark about the actress, saying that the roads of Bihar which were like the cheeks of Om Puri, will be made like the cheeks of Hema Malini.
While this might seem downright tame compared to the other remarks on the list, it just goes to show how deeply ingrained sexism is in Indian society.
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