Name-calling opponents is something of a fixture in Indian politics. However, this can’t become a free pass for misogyny, a point the Election Commission of India (ECI) did well to underscore on Wednesday, by serving show-cause notices to the Congress’s Supriya Shrinate and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dilip Ghosh for their offensive remarks against women leaders from rival parties. Ghosh has issued an apology and an FIR has been filed against him in West Bengal while Shrinate failed to land a seat this time.
ECI needs to be alert to misogynist remarks, especially when the campaign picks up, and be even-handed in pulling up all transgressors irrespective of their stature. Anti-women talk needs to be treated on par with hate speech and censored accordingly. Politics in India is largely a male affair, where women participants at every level — panchayats to Parliament — are viciously targeted. Indira Gandhi was once described as goongi gudiya (dumb doll); even popular leaders such as J Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee have not been spared by far less capable political opponents. In fact, crude sexism is deployed as a strategy to dissuade women from entering politics.
This, however, will have to change. A majority of members in Panchayati Raj institutions in many states are women; earlier this year, Parliament legislated for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha. Women are asserting themselves electorally, outnumbering male voters in many constituencies. To be sure, the problem of misogynist mindsets extends beyond politics and draws from the larger societal thinking. But political leaders and parties will have to take the lead in ushering in change.
