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A Minister in the Union Cabinet has proved just how commonplace sexism is in public life.
Giriraj Singh, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and prominent leader from Bihar, wondered if the Congress would have accepted Sonia Gandhi as its leader had she been a Nigerian.
“Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian, would the Congress have accepted her as the party president?” he reportedly asked.
The comments were apparently made when Giriraj was informally chatting with journalists at Hajipur, Bihar after addressing a press conference on Tuesday.
The Minister later apologised for having “hurt either Sonia or Rahul Gandhi’s sentiments” but protested against journalists recording an “off the record” conversation. “People say all kinds of things while talking off the record,” he asserted.
Sharp responseThe Congress responded sharply, with party spokesperson Manish Tiwari saying: “We would not diminish ourselves by responding to this absurdity and perversity. It is for Mr Narendra Modi to reflect on the kind of creatures he has inducted in his Council of Ministers.”
The CPI(M)’s politburo member and feminist leader Brinda Karat wanted to know what the PM had to say on his minister’s comments. “He (Giriraj Singh) is a serial offender. What is the PM’s Mann Ki Baat on this? His silence reflects connivance and encouragement,” she told a television channel.
Giriraj has, in the past, advised those opposed to Modi to “migrate to Pakistan”, besides having been accused of making highly provocative and communal statements in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
He was among the first leaders in Bihar to back Modi’s PM candidature and belongs to the BJP’s traditional support base of the powerful Bhumihar caste in Bihar.
The BJP accordingly maintained a studied silence on the issue on Wednesday, with most spokespersons contending that the party will not react to comments that were not supposed to have been officially made.
“This was an off the record conversation. It was not meant to be publicised. Even then, he has apologised. What more can we add?” said a party spokesperson.
Third instanceThis is the third such sexist comment in the last fortnight by politicians, starting with Sharad Yadav’s assertion in Parliament that “dark-skinned women from the southern parts of India are more beautiful…”
Although Yadav was roundly criticised, it did not stop Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar from advising nurses in the State to stop staging protests as “striking in the sun will make you dark and ruin your marital prospects”.
The unsolicited advice was delivered by the Chief Minister when the striking nurses went to present their demands to him on Tuesday.
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