An Open Letter to an Indian Politican
Dear Ms. Bannerjee,
A couple of weeks ago, you made the following statement on rape in India:
“Earlier if men and women would hold hands, they would get caught by parents and reprimanded, but now everything is so open. It’s like an open market with open options,”
Okay, I’ll wait.
No? You weren’t misquoted? It wasn’t taken out of context? So you believe what you said. Ms. Bannerjee, I’m afraid we’re going to have some problems.
Let’s get some context. You’re the Chief Minister of West Bengal, one of India’s most prominent states. The region you lead has been associated with some of the country’s most revolutionary thinkers, it’s only literary Nobel Laureate and was at the forefront of the struggle for independence. Your office means something. In the past, your populism has been ideologically charged. You opposed the expansion of Special Economic Zones in your state and said it would displace farmers. You fought for rural interests, and got your way, and you know what? That’s great; I didn’t necessarily agree with your stance, but that’s what a democracy is about.
What you said about rape, though, was unacceptable. It isn’t funny, or laughable or clumsily worded; it was an absolute travesty. Where does one even start with a statement like that? It was callous. Try explaining to one of the victims that twelve men raped her because couples can date each other more openly, because there are “open options”. Try explaining that in a way that doesn’t boil down to a centuries-old power dynamic, where men think such a of display of hateful dominance is acceptable. Wouldn’t you think couples being able to hold hands more openly would lead to genuine love and respect? Call me crazy, Ms. Bannerjee, but I think people holding each other’s hands is a statement of affection and people violating each other is an expression of hatred. What you said wasn’t just dismissive and callous: it was illogical.
The thing is, it isn’t even surprising what you said. Women are treated like second class citizens in the world’s largest democracy. It isn’t equality if you’re oppressing half the population. Actually, that’s factually inaccurate: due to female infanticide, women now make up well under half the population. At every level of society, women are oppressed. At its worst, it’s rape, murder and infanticide, but you can’t boil that down to rural attitudes towards women; you can’t explain it away that easily. Not only are violent crimes against women rampant in India’s big cities, the power dynamics translate through to every level of society. From glass ceilings, to casual sexist comments by the country’s leaders, there’s no escaping the insidiousness of the inequality. With something so deeply rooted it’s impossible for one single activist or reformer to reach every household in this vast country. We need our elected leaders to use their national platform to stamp it out; we need them to, well, lead. You can understand, then, why your comments were so disappointing.
Do you need some inspiration yourself? Fortunately, you needn’t look far. Ram Mohan Roy, a native of your state almost two hundred years ago, spent his life abolishing the practice of sati, establishing property rights for women and fighting child marriage. It’s an extraordinary legacy to carry; you can honor it by making more thoughtful statements the next time you’re asked important questions.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen