No PM Modi, you are wrong: Village women are not like Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti

In trying to defend the indefensible Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have inadvertently tagged all villagers of India as foul-mouthed people lacking tact and discretion.

While strongly disapproving the abusive statement made by Niranjan Jyoti during a poll speech, the PM said in Lok Sabha: “The minister has apologised, she’s new and we are also aware of social background. She comes from a village.”

By saying so, the PM has bracketed all women of rural India with the Sadhvi, conveying that they all use abusive language. Jyoti had said at a public rally recently: “Aap ko tae karna hai ki Dilli mein sarkar Ramjzadon ki banayein ya Haramzadon ki.”

“The statement made by the PM on the floor of the House conveys his thinking and how he wants to move ahead, with a single point agenda of finishing off the democracy and converting the country into a non-democratic, fascist state. Instead of sacking the minister, Modi justified her abusive language, which is again an insult to the women from villages. The village women are far more secular, cultured and dignified than their metro counterparts. It’s the PM’s RSS background that reflects the concept of no respect for women,” said social activist and founder member-trustee of ANHAD, Shabnam Hashmi.

Sudha Sundararaman, national vice president, All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA), agreed with Hashmi. “The PM’s statements relay a strong message to the public. Whatever he said in defence of Sadhvi is unpardonable and objectionable, as it gives a strong message of discrimination. The fact is that rural women are very polite and they can’t be branded on the basis of Niranjan Jyoti’s abusive statement.”

It would not be a surprise if the PM’s defence of his minister snowballs into a bigger controversy than the original debate as women and activists across the spectrum have condemned it.

Activist Akhila Sivadas who works on women’s issues, said, “The PM has argued Sadhvi’s statement as a deviation. But her action and speech can’t just be reduced to a deviation, as she’s heading a ministry and is in a responsible position. She should have maintained the decorum of an institution. The minister can’t be compared with the boxer Sarita Devi, as the latter had faced odds and hardships in life and continues to do so.”

The PM’s remark has come as an insult to injury already inflicted first by Jyoti and then by another union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who had alleged that the Opposition was targeting her because she was a ‘Dalit’. This had led to a strong objection by the chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Mayawati who had said: “The BJP is saying that she is a Dalit woman and this is untrue. Playing the Dalit card is not right. The minister neither belongs to the Dalit community nor does she hail from scheduled caste community. She is from the backward Nishad caste… It would be improper to bring the whole Nishad community into this.”

Mayawati had added that if the minister was incompetent or had made an objectionable statement, then she should have been removed and replaced by another person from that community.

Another collateral controversy brewing out of this ugly situation is the debate on who Jyoti’s original remark was meant to target. Political watchers believe that the expletive was apparently aimed at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the toughest competitor for the BJP.

“On being caught on the wrong foot in the Sadhvi’s case, the government first tried to play the Dalit card, but Mayawati punctured the balloon by saying that Niranjan Jyoti wasn’t a Dalit. Now, the hapless, yet stubborn Modi came out with a logic that she was from rural background. Does he mean to say that rural women are uncivil and uncultured? I’m from a backward region of Bihar and have never seen women using such profane language. Will the PM also pardon me if I use abuses against him in public?” questioned AAP member Anupam Singh.

The BJP is not new to such controversy. Not too long ago, when Uma Bharati, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and currently a Union minister, had revolted against the party, the then RSS chief KS Sudarshan had made a similar remark. Recalls a senior Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh: “On Uma Bharti’s revolt, Sudershan remarked that Uma Bharti was a woman from the backward Dalit community, which was highly condemnable and speaks of Sangh’s culture and outlook towards women.”