In another fake news to defame Union Minister Smriti Irani, the media twisted a statement of Smriti Irani to make it appear as anti-women. Speaking at the Young Thinkers’ conference organized by the British High Commission and the Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai. In the context of Sabarimala verdict on women’s entry, Smriti Irani had stated, “I am nobody to speak against the Supreme Court verdict as I am a serving cabinet minister. But just plain common sense is that would you carry a napkin seeped with menstrual blood and walk into a friend’s house. You would not. And would you think it is respectful to do the same when you walk into the house of god? That is the difference. I have the right to pray, but no right to desecrate. That is the difference that we need to recognize and respect.”
However, the liberal media which has been hostile against Smriti Irani twisted her statement calling it ‘regressive’ and ‘bizarre.’ The usual suspects went after her with a vengeance without checking the credibitlity of either the news or the context in which the statement was made.
Is @SmritiIrani for real? Her argument against women going to Sabarimala: Would You Take Sanitary Napkins Soaked in Menstrual Blood Into a Friend's Home? https://t.co/v68pm07vxj via @thewire_in
— Siddharth (@svaradarajan) October 23, 2018
https://twitter.com/mirakamdar/status/1054659863559725056
Oh boy. Indian govt minister on whether menstruating women should be allowed into famous temple: “It is plain common sense. Would you take sanitary napkins soaked in menstrual blood into a friend’s home? So why would you take them into the house of God" https://t.co/4uc1IaNo9c
— michael safi (@safimichael) October 23, 2018
However, it is very clear that while speaking about the ‘blood-soaked’ sanitary napkins and supposed desecration, she was not insinuating or implying exclusion of menstruating women but it was a response to a specific ‘activist’ who had tried to enter the Sabarimala temple carrying a ‘blood-soaked’ sanitary napkin. This act indeed amounts to desecration and defiling the sanctity of a place of worship and shows contempt for rituals and traditions of the devotees.
The activist in question here is controversial actor Rehana Fathima, who had tried to enter the Sabarimala temple after the SC verdict. In the wake of her theatrics, the self declared feminist and ‘Muslim atheist’ Rehana Fatima had been officially expelled from Islamic community after she was accused of trying to defile the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ of the Sabarimala temple by carrying offending items in her offerings to be deity of the Sabarimala Temple, i.e. Lord Ayyappa.
As is evident from the video below, Smriti Irani’s remarks were not intended towards menstruating women in general but were a direct reference to Rehana Fathima’s attempts to defile the sanctity of the Sabarimala Temple. However, the media choose to ignore the context of her statements and quickly jumped the gun in maligning the Union Minister.
Why twist the straightforward statement of @smritiirani out of context @ndtv ? She was not saying about women "wearing" pads and going anywhere. She was saying that in context of the news about someone carrying blood-soaked pads as "offering" to the #Sabrimala temple. https://t.co/w1zkDxlYkT
— Yashwant Deshmukh 🇮🇳 (@YRDeshmukh) October 23, 2018
Smriti Irani has been at the receiving end of liberal media’s fake news war countless times and she has constantly brazened out such defamation attempts and have always emerged vindicated.
