If the visuals of a Shiv Sena member of Parliament stuffing a chapati down the throat of a canteen supervisor at Maharashtra Sadan who was fasting for Ramzan were sickening in their connotations of the arrogance, insensitivity and toxic intoxication of petty power, the facile and feeble explanation of the MP, Rajan Vichare, that he was not aware that the attendant was Muslim or fasting for Ramzan was idiotic at so many levels that he ought to be disqualified on grounds of stupidity alone.
Many questions were raised in the media over this statement, including whether it would have been fine for him to force-feed a Hindu staffer or anyone else, and if this behaviour was at all acceptable. Predictably, no answers were received. Neither Mr Vichare’s party, nor Parliament took action against him. After the feeding frenzy of the media he has quite simply got away, scot-free.
The equally obnoxious Tapas Pal of Trinamul Congress was not so lucky. His outrageous and criminal incitement to his party workers to go out and rape women belonging to the Opposition party has landed him in trouble — no thanks to his party or Parliament, but because the high court ordered the filing of an FIR against him. But thereafter, based on the plea of his party, he was granted bail. It is highly doubtful if Mr Pal will ever be punished for his statement.
I have miserably wondered at least a hundred times and still I cannot understand why, if women of Mr Pal’s party were molested, it did not occur to him to demand and pursue strict deterrent punishment against the rapists and offenders. What perverted logic made him call for the rape of innocent women of another party? I have never been able to fathom this logic, and therefore put it down to the deep-rooted patriarchy inherent in certain types of men, which brings out the worst in them at times like this.
There are many other examples which speak to my conviction that a large number of important men in this country are deeply patriarchal and feudal in their thinking and attitude, and have never considered women to be worth more than cattle or chattel. There can be no other explanation as to why when the issue of sexual assault against women is debated, their first instinct is to blame the victim!
Haryana’s former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala thought that the only way to prevent rape was by lowering the marriage age of girls! Probably because if married early, the woman would become the possession of another man, and hence not be available for rape?
Another senior Haryana MLA, Jitender Chhatar, opined that rapes were caused by “hormonal imbalance, caused by the eating of fast food”. All that can be said in defence of
Mr Chhatar is that at least he did not blame the women.
Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav indulgently declared that boys will be boys, “galti ho jati hai”. You can’t hang boys for being boys, he said. Asaram Bapu, although not a politician was actually hilarious, if the whole issue was not so evil and painful. He advised women to close their eyes and think of God and religion while being raped, and think of their molesters as brothers — and, presumably, forgive them.
Senior Madhya Pradesh politician Vijavargiya pontificated that if women crossed their Lakshman rekha, then “Sitaharan is bound to take place as Ravans are out there”. Obviously men do not require any Lakshman rekha of any kind. Dozens of similar statements have been made, including by women, and reams of print have been used to discuss the sociology of this attitude — although with little or no impact.
However, my particular preoccupation at this time is to point out that in almost every case where outrageous state-ments have been made by members of Parliament, either out of arrogance or ignorance, no action is ever initiated against them, and they get away scot-free.
If anything, they get considerable amount of free media publicity and possibly win a few more male chauvinist supp-orters. Despite the fact that their actions are clearly against the law of the land, and their vile and unacceptable statements insult the very basis of our democracy, they are allowed to go scot-free.
Freedom of speech is fundamental to our democracy, but when an ordinary citizen makes a statement that outrages the modesty of a woman or offends a class of people or community, he or she is more than likely to be punished for it by the law, or at least straightaway thrashed by angry bystanders. MPs, however, are protected from such immediate action by parliamentary privilege.
Ironically enough, parliamentary privilege in respect of speech was extended to MPs to enable them to more effectively carry out their duties as representatives of the people. Needless to say, the protection extends only to statements made inside the Houses of Parliament, and not to the nonsense they spew outside. However, due to their hallowed position, action is rarely taken against them.
I do believe that the time has now come for demonstrable action to be initiated against all elected representatives who make offensive, insulting and unacceptable statements, whether they be against women, against a particular community or a class of people. The ethics committee of Parliament and the state legislatures could take suo motu cognisance of such comments and also actions — such as the chapati stuffing incident or the time when a Gujarat MP attacked a toll gate attendant with a gun for daring to ask for due payment — and thereafter Parliament could initiate immediate and exemplary action. Punishment could range from suspension from the legislature, to disqualification and expulsion, and debarment from contesting another election whether to Parliament or the state legislature.
Perhaps the ethics committees could even recommend criminal proceedings followed by imprisonment.
Legislatures and legislators will only begin to regain a modicum of lost credibility in the public space when the legislature, particularly Parliament, shows that it means business, and it cannot be business as usual for these serial offenders.
The writer is a political activist, and the views expressed in this column are her own
