Pramod Muthalik in BJP: Is this Modi's idea of women's rights?

With time, and the gift of wisdom it lends to most average human beings, you learn to dismiss advertisements for political parties the same way you learn to ignore the gravity-defying, ballet-dancing hair of models in shampoo ads. It’s possibly easier to believe that Delhi worries about the Yamuna, than assume that our vote-seekers care about our well-being. That’s one of the reasons why despite the compelling voice artistes in the BJP’s radio ad on women’s safety asking people to place their faith in the impending Modi-sarkar, you’re most likely to switch stations after admiring the fact that a political ad, for a change, doesn’t sound only as exciting as the station announcement in a Mumbai local. [caption id=“attachment_1446631” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Pramod Muthalik. IBN Live.[/caption] “I had imagined that my daughter would grow up and become independent and work. Now with horror stories of rapes and molestation I can’t rest easy till she is back home,” whimpers a woman in one of BJP’s ‘ab ki bar, Modi sarkar’ ad on the radio. Unsurprisingly, the ad concludes with the suggestion that the Gujarat CM is a one-stop solution for the ills of the country - fair enough, no political party in India can be held guilty of being either practical or realistic in their poll campaigns. However, in action, the BJP has shown that the ads are conceived in the cool, air-conditioned of publicity agencies by clever, imaginative and well-paid copywriters and directors, far from the grime and dust of real political exchanges. It has gone ahead and ‘welcomed’ Pramod Muthalik, chief of Rashtriya Hindu Sene, the parent organisation for Sri Ram Sena. Now who are the Sri Ram Sena? An organisation, whose members ‘raided’ a pub in Mangalore  in broad daylight in 2009, chasing, pushing, shoving and beating up women to make sure they are reminded of their place in the world according to the Sena - that of being a doormat to be trampled over by noble men such as them as and when required. Here’s a link to the video of the attack:

Announcing that pubs and bars should be the exclusive haunts of men, Muthalik initially supported the attack and said, “Girls going to pubs is not acceptable.” Note how he doesn’t seem to have any objections to the concept of a pub, as long as women are kept away from them. Under political pressure, Muthalik later apologised but still asserted that while it was not right of the Ram Sene activists to attack the women, they had done it to protect the ‘mothers and daughters’ of the country. Now, how does beating up a group of young girls, chasing them down and literally molesting them, contribute to the development and safety of said ‘mothers and daughters’? In the way junior school teachers make sure kids listen to them by making one hold his ears and doing sit-ups in front of the entire class - the ‘you’ll be next’ fear psychosis. Violence, and the fear that follows, has been a traditional weapon used by upholders of patriarchy in various societies to make sure women remain in the place that is convenient for them. By inducting Muthalik, BJP just endorsed that idea and reminded that country that it continues to remain neck-deep in radical philosophies irresponsibly termed as ‘Hindu morality’ by groups of self proclaimed ‘defenders’ of the religion. In the same year as the pub attack, Pravin Valke, founder of Ram Sene justified the incident to The Indian Express thus: “These girls come from all over India, drink, smoke, and walk around in the night spoiling the traditional girls of Mangalore. Why should girls go to pubs? Are they going to serve their future husbands alcohol? Should they not be learning to make chapattis [Indian bread]? Bars and pubs should be for men only. We wanted to ensure that all women in Mangalore are home by 7 p.m.” Several women will agree that having to read/hear Valke’s misogynistic, ill-informed and prejudiced notions about womanhood and realising that he is a free man according to the rules of democracy is no less an assault on any woman than say getting groped in a crowded train. It’s almost like that catcall lobbed at you from afar, beyond a distance that allows retaliation and leaves you trembling with absolute, frustrating anger. An anger, that many would agree, is an essential part of an average Indian woman’s rite of passage from childhood to womanhood. In fact, you possibly remember the end of your childhood with the beginning of that anger. And by inducting Parmod Muthalik into its fold, BJP and Narendra Modi, just regurgitated the notion that India is a no country for any woman who does not want to live by the rule book of a handful of moral hawks. Assuming that Narendra Modi is the leader of the party and all political transactions happen under his watch, how did he allow the inclusion of the leader of a conglomerate that in action and spirit is against the women’s rights and freedoms in a democracy? The Hindu vote bank, like the Muslim vote bank, might be demanding a soothing back massage before the polls, but did it have to be done at the cost of looking like a party who makes light of atrocities on women? I am a Hindu woman who doesn’t resent being one. I would also very much like it if no one chased me down and beat me up because I was at a bar, drinking. It’s another thing that if I am to vote for BJP, my chosen PM wouldn’t bat an eyelid if that were to happen for real.