AAP – No Party for Aam Aurat

“Boys are boys, they make mistakes.”

– Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party

 

“Rape is a social crime which depends on the man and the woman. It is sometimes right and sometimes wrong.”

– Babulal Gaur, BJP

 

Women should not venture out with men who are not relatives.”

– Samajwadi Party

 

Ninety per cent of rapes are “consensual”.

– Dharamveer Goyat, Congress

 

“Pretty women” who protest against rapes are “dented and painted”.

– Abhijit Mukherjee, Congress

 

“Just because the country attained independence at midnight, is it proper for women moving at midnight?”

-Botsa Satyanarayana, Congress

 

“Rapes are on the rise because “men and women interact with each other more freely now”.

– Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress

These are some of the unwarranted nuggets of wisdom from our eminent leaders. That’s how they trivialize rape, one of the biggest evils in India. If there was a competition for the worst remark, who would you nominate as the strongest contender?

Mulayam Singh? Dharamveer Goyat? Mamata Banerjee?

Guess who would I nominate? Shri Arvind Kejriwal himself.

Now what did he say? Did he join the league of infamous grandees and ladies too? Well, the short answer for that will be no. And the long answer for that will be well, long.

Shri Arvind Kejriwal has a class and I am sure he is not going to join this mudslinging fest. But Mr. Arvind Kejriwal has crushed all the seasoned rape apologists with one decree of his, or rather his government’s.

Supporting the highly dishonorable and shameful “Two Finger Test”, The Delhi Government issued a circular issued that says “one cannot do away with this essential pelvic examination because it would ultimately lead to injustice and low conviction rates”. Let us first understand what the “Two Finger Test” is:

In the test, which appears in Indian jurisprudence textbooks and is admissible in court, a doctor inserts two fingers into a women’s vagina to determine its laxity and whether the hymen is broken, signaling previous sexual activity. The test perpetuates stereotypes of rape survivors as loose women and often is used by defense counsels to achieve acquittals, human-rights groups say.

(Source: Wall Street Journal)

It is notice worthy that the Union government had banned the test last year, after the Supreme Court stated in 2013 that it encroaches upon a woman’s right to privacy. The Supreme Court also asked the government to provide better medical processes to confirm sexual assault.

But the Delhi Government chose to go ahead with the 2 Finger Test diktat.

Arvind Kejriwal stormed to power, riding on the waves of popular support. His “Common Man” image was appreciated by one and all. His so called crusade against corruption gave the common man of India a voice. And he untiringly sold his image as an advocate of Women’s rights. When Delhi was functioning without a government and the Election Commission of India was not in a mood to call for fresh elections in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal issued a video wherein he spoke for different people of society. He spoke for an auto driver, a smalltime trader, a government employee, a businessman, a housewife and a college going lady haunted by the thoughts of getting molested and raped. He promised a safe Delhi. He promised fast and fair trials. While his common man image is withering away fast and the fact that he has dictatorial tendencies is now out in the open, his credentials as someone who stands for women’s rights is wilting too. He first empowered the Auto drivers with the “Right to Reject” passengers which apparently consists of a lot of women. And by supporting a regressive procedure like the “Two Finger Test” he has simply killed his women’s rights activist image. Not very long back, Ex AAP Leader, Shazia Ilmi accused the Aam Aadmi Party of “benevolent patriarchy”. Delhi’s Cabinet doesn’t consist of any women ministers. Most Women leaders have abandoned the Aam Aadmi Party.

When a leader from Samajwadi Party makes a misogynist speech or a TMC MP trivializes rape, we do feel bad but then we do not expect any better from them. On the other hand when a party born out of the womb of massive public outcry for justice and and thirst for morality treads the same line, we ought to feel shattered. That’s what Aam Aadmi Party did, shattered a lot of its supporters.

Backlash against this diktat was inevitable, Social Media erupted and so did the mainstream media. Women rights activists voiced their opinions against the circular strongly and urged the government to take it back. For a party which thrives on populist gimmicks and brownie points in social and mainstream media, this was too much to take and they were forced to take a U turn (this time for good). Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain issued a new advisory and said “It is advised that the medical professionals should not perform the two- finger test unless it is required for treatment purposes.” But it was too late by then.

With this Diktat and the subsequent U Turn, The Aam Aadmi Party has sent a strong Signal. It is the AAP – AAP – No Party for Aam Aurat.