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Crass politics must end

The idea of setting people to vengeful rape is reprehensible

Hyderabad: Had the Bengali actor-politician Tapas Pal said what he uttered during the election campaign even in a film dialogue, it would not have gone down well. The very idea of setting people to vengeful rape is reprehensible and defies every norm of civilisation.

As a clever afterthought, the actor attempted to pass off “rape” as “raid” but even his wife apologised for his words. Politics in West Bengal has been vitiated over time, marked at times by party-inspired murder, too, as the Communists ruled for decades and were then brought down in unprecedented rivalry by the Trinamul Congress.

But, in the present context of the travails the nation is going through in tackling the obnoxious crimes of sexual harassment of women and rape, what the MP said was beyond the pale of civilised debate. The TMC has done well in distancing itself from its legislator’s rant and also extracting an unconditional apology from him.

The question is whether that is sufficient or should it do more after following procedure in calling for the offender’s version of events. There is never place in politics for the kind of enmity being seen in a state that was once known for cultured, if emotional, discussion.

The impunity with which some have spoken in vituperative manner in Bengal in most recent times leads us to suspect that political parties are to blame for conceding space to its members. It is in everyone’s interest to banish MPs like Tapas Pal.

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