Oh Maneka Gandhi, when will you learn?
As much as Maneka Gandhi seems to do for the animals and a person whom I used to look up to, it is quickly becoming apparent to me that she might not be the brightest bulb out there.
Confused as to what even am I talking about?
Well recently, at a women’s journalist workshop, Gandhi who is also the Union Minister for Women and Child Development stated that internationally India “ranked among the lowest four countries in the world” when faced with concerns and questions about the growing rape culture in the country.
This is not the first time Gandhi has made such an illogical and controversial remark as earlier she had tried to say and I am paraphrasing a bit that ‘Indian men don’t need paternity leave as they would misuse it’ or how about the time when she said that marital rape as a concept cannot be applied in the Indian context.
What is she even trying to say??!!
And now she has gone and tried to make us feel better about our sky-rocketing rape statistics?
Is she being serious right now?
Well At Least We Are Not The Last
Her arguments that India is only at the fourth place and instead it is Sweden who tops the list is just so pathetically hilarious.
I mean this seems to be right out of a classroom where a student who has got really low marks is just consoling themselves by saying ‘at least last to nai aaya na’ there is still someone worse than me.
Gandhi also commented on how it is the media’s fault that they report and put it out there in India and since that is not the case with Sweden, no one knows about it.
All this was too sooth the hurt that Gandhi felt after a visit to Sweden about two years ago, where someone there said “that no one wanted to travel to India.”
Ms. Maneka Gandhi, Is This Some Kind Of Competition?
Let us put aside the statistics, whether they are true or not and how the fact that we cannot even take them at face value as international records are anyways not that reliable due to different laws and procedures for criminal offences.
Instead let us focus on how a minister, this woman who holds a position of power in our country is basically saying to every Indian woman that ‘hey, you should probably be happy you are in this country and not Sweden, you could have been at a worse place’.
I mean, is that the kind of mentality our politicians should be having?
Should we really be competing on this factor instead of say, trying to improve and better the bad situation in our country?
Do we need to remind her of the social and even legal problems that Indian women face if they try to report a rape?
By her own definition, marital rape does not even exist in our culture, so there goes a good majority of our female population. And the other half, well societal pressure, stigma and more are pretty strong points that prevent women from reporting sexual crimes committed against them.
I believe Maneka Gandhi whatever good intention she had, has made a big blunder in wording herself in this way and essentially dismissing that we have any rape problem.
And even if she does want to compete, then can we not pick a better partner to do it with?
Perhaps take a few lessons from countries which boast of good security and safety measures for women and incorporate them into our legal system?
Le sigh Ms. Gandhi… le sigh.
Image Credits: Google Images
Other Recommendations:
http://edtimes.in/will-indian-men-really-domestic-duties-given-much-question-paternity-leave/http://edtimes.in/marital-rape-in-india-is-not-a-crime-according-to-maneka-gandhi/
