“It’s time we took pride in our rich ancient Indian culture. Now it has become trendy among Indian women not to wear ‘kumkum’ on forehead; wearing tight and revealing clothes, trimming hair and sporting weird hairdos.” Lata Dhavalikar
“What’s wrong with what my wife said? In the past, rape cases were less because they (women) adhered by Hindu dharma and now such cases are on the rise because of western style of living. She (his wife) has lived her entire life wearing kumkum and sarees. She was never a victim of eve-teasing. That is what she must have explained to people.” Deepak Dhavalikar, Minister for Factories, Goa.
“On an average, 92 women were raped in India every single day last year.” National Crime Records
‘…’ Logic
Fortunately for the Dhavalikars, the National Crime Records do not focus on what the victims were wearing, else we could have called them out on their baseless statements. Of course the fact that rape happens in villages, to wives, to children, to 70-year-old women is something that these two self-proclaimed protectors of Indian culture have ignored.
But we must not be surprised. Indian politics and logic have always been at opposite ends when it comes to addressing a heinous crime like rape. After all if a certain lawyer is to be believed, “In our culture, there is no place for a woman.”
However, expecting certain desi politicians to stop being the rapists’ ally isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Until we don’t stop mixing Indian culture with loose clothes and staying at home after 5 pm, we can’t really march ahead, can we?
Image Courtesy: BCCL
More On >> Balancing Act
