It is disgusting, to say the least, to listen to horrible remarks made by ministers and politicians about women, their clothes, the colour of their skin, the race they belong to etc. The latest to join the bandwagon are Union Minister Giriraj Singh and no less a person than Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.
Giriraj referred to Sonia Gandhi as a white-skinned woman and compared her to the dark-skinned Nigerians in his remark. He defends himself by saying that he was speaking “off the record.” He suggested that the media was blowing it out of proportion. He further adds insult to injury by saying that he regrets what he has said if it has caused any hurt to Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi.
Parsekar allegedly passed remarks on the striking nurses of the 108 ambulance services. Parsekar appears to have advised the nurses not to sit in the sun as their skin will turn dark and it would be difficult for them to find suitable bridegrooms. He later denied having said any such thing.
Such remarks from ministers point out to some dark facts: In our still male–dominated society, men still have an affinity for white-skinned women. Recently Sharad Yadav had also passed a remark in the Parliament regarding the dusky complexion of South Indian women. Men are obsessed with this.
According to these ministers, the worth of a woman depends upon the colour of her skin. That is ridiculous; more so, in a country like India where people have different skin colours and still excel in various fields. Neither are all the men in our country fair-skinned but that somehow does not warrant any comments from ministers.
The reference to dark-skinned Nigerians in particular will draw international disgrace for the minister.
Ministers seem to have a different code of speech when conversing with cronies and a different one when appearing before the cameras. How does the defence “Off the record” hold good? It only exposes the deep-seated gender and racist mindset of the male Indian in general and the ministers in particular. One cannot consider such remarks as aberrations because they have come in quick succession of one another.
Ministers are reluctant to apologize in such cases. When they are pulled up by their authorities, they express half-hearted regret for the remarks they have made. They accuse the media of distorting their remarks. Better still, they make an outright denial. Fortunately with the media that we have, ministers cannot get away easily with what they say. The social media also attacks them.
There is no code of conduct for ministers. As such they know that no action can be taken against them for their foul language. As a very experienced police officer suggested there should be a code of conduct. A minister could be censured twice after which he could face dismissal. Unless an immediate example is made of these blundering ministers, the others will not learn their lesson.
Another wider issue for us to consider is the type of ministers we elect as our representatives. They are not only public figures but should serve as role models for us as well. We only get the kind of ministers we elect.
