This self-proclaimed activist, Kundan Srivastava actually took photos of women without their consent and posted it on Facebook, along with some hypocritical comments on fashion and modesty. I am sure most of you can guess what kind of comments they were. But in doing so, he exposed the ugly underbelly of the women’s movement in India or the complete lack of it.
But who is Kundan Srivastava? His Twitter bio says he is an author, activist and social entrepreneur. He even identifies himself as the ambassador for mobile app, True Caller and the founder of an NGO, Be in Humanity. And to top it all, he even claims to be a recipient of the Universal Humanity Award, 2013. And yet his recent post on Facebook is completely unlike his er…activist credentials.
Two women were photographed from behind on the road without their knowledge and one of them was sporting an off shoulder shirt and the other a strappy tank top. And Kundan Srivastava, posted these photographs with a caption that read: “I strongly disagree on such fashion in India. I would like to request, please avoid show off. I believe woman is a glory of creature. Being a girl is dignity. Mind it!”
The shocking part about this post is that it garnered more than 3600 shares and 9950 likes!
[fb_post]https://www.facebook.com/founderkundansrivastava/photos/pb.558798494133849.-2207520000.1446823634./1160364307310595/?type=3&theater[/fb_post]
Not only is this post slut-shaming women in the name of feigned concern, judging by the likes and shares there are many, many people who think this way and the post only seems to encourage them. But thankfully, there are many other men and women who have called him out for this and are telling him to mind his own business, including the likes of activists Kavita Krishnan and Sapna Bhavnani. What a woman wears or doesn’t wear is none of his concern, truly.
And then there were some men too who took offense at this atrocious post, bless them!
But Kavita’s comment, and similar comments that followed, seemed to have no effect on Kundan, as his retort was that he has the right to dictate appropriate dressing to women as he fought for them.
Kavita Krishnan also posted a screen-grab of the post on Twitter, and it was met by a curt reply from an angry Srivastava, who ended with, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ And this, coming from a man who was judging women by their outfits a few hours before. Hypocrisy indeed.
It’s bad enough that Srivastava seems to show no remorse for his actions and calls himself a ‘super feminist’. But what’s truly appalling is that this man claims to work with rape and abuse victims who deal with the worst kind of trauma and victim blaming. To deal with victim blaming even from NGO handlers like Srivastava is the sign of a grim situation in this country.
And what he posted recently is another manifestation of victim blaming too. After all, how long does it take for a person to go from ‘She shouldn’t be showing off that bra strap’ to ‘she was asking for it’.
Let’s hope Srivastava is not a true representative of what the activist community in India is like. If he is, then we are all in deep, deep trouble. We can say goodbye to women empowerment.
Image via Facebook
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