When it comes to crime, especially those committed against women, Indian politicians almost always and consistently make bizarre and uncalled for comments that leave the rest of society gobsmacked.
We need not look to far back to recall some of these outlandish and objectionable statements. Last month, we had Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav making his "boys will be boys" remark following the rape of teen-aged girls in Badaun. Then we have another leader of the same party Naresh Aggarwal comparing women to animals, and we have Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur saying women should take up sports actively to prevent being raped. The question is, where is the connect?
Predictably, women always react strongly. A thought came to my mind as to what men think of our leading politicians' reactions?
Professor and journalist, Ramesh Menon says, "The statements from our leading politicians' are a reflection that Indian society has a long way to go to evolve into a more mature and humanistic way."
"It shows how much they need a lesson in gender sensitivity and understanding," he added.
Rohit Sharma, a final year B.A. student from Delhi University, said, "We should be ashamed of ourselves to have chosen such leaders who try to reason out the atrocious crime instead of taking actions."
However, some men also added that women are not always the victims of molestation or eve teasing, and sometimes they fabricate things to ensure an incident ends up in their favour.
A Delhi-based IT professional, who works in a MNC in Gurgaon, requesting anonymity, said, "Though there is no excuse for our leaders to make such statements, considering the surge of such crimes, it wouldn't hurt if women took a little extra care of themselves and their surroundings and dress appropriately."
But does being careful prevent assault cases from happening in one's own household, or tell us how a toddler or an old woman should dress 'properly'?
Actress Preity Zinta's harassment complaint against her former boyfriend and business partner Ness Wadia is making news these days, and this makes one thing clear-that it isn't just women belonging to a certain demographic who are the only ones at risk.
Amitabh Kumar, spokesperson for Centre for Social Research (CSR), a Delhi-based NGO which works for empowerment of women and runs a gender training institute, adds, "The comments are a depiction of India's patriarchy and show how the crime instead of being taken seriously, is still treated as some sort of mere mischief. I have seen in my field of work that even women blame the girls for going out late at night, and we need to change that point of view."
But what do those from a different spectrum have to say about this?
A fruit vendor, who initially refused to comment on the issue said, "Saying what we think won't help. It's just how things have been and will be."
An auto-rickshaw driver said, "The remarks are not all wrong, as the 'city-girls' do try to gain attention with their dressing and attitude, and could help the situation if they keep to themselves."
Actor Aamir Khan inaugurated India's first One Stop Crisis Centre for women in Bhopal on Monday. He, too, conveyed his regret on the insensitivity of politicians. He said that people only make such statements when they don't have enough knowledge about the crime.
Khan, who had raised the issue of women's safety through his TV show 'Satya Mev Jayate', said that parents should teach their daughters to be strong, and at the same time educate their sons to be respectful towards women.
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