Zubin Irani, Guv Swaraj, Mr Sitharaman and more – Dear Barkha, there are many happy Indian husbands of successful women

The emphatic victory achieved by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is indeed an inspirational story of how one should never give up on their goals. Kamala Harris has been especially receiving a lot of love as the daughter of immigrants prepares to become the United States of America’s First Woman Vice President. As Kamala’s husband, Douglas Emhoff took to social media to congratulate his wife, journalist-turned-YouTuber Barkha Dutt used it as a stick to indulge in jarring generalisation by insinuating that Indian men are insecure of the success of their better halves.

YouTuber Barkha Dutt took to Twitter to go wax lyrical over Douglas Emhoff – the husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Dutt tweeted, “Please show me the Indian Man who’d be secure enough to be this man.”

Trust Barkha to create a controversy out of an absolute non-issue which pretty much sums up her journalism. While Barkha would like to claim that no India man would be as secure as Douglas, when one removes their ideologically biased glasses, the truth is starkly different.

Contrary to Dutt’s claim, the Modi government has made it a point to induct Women Ministers for crucial portfolios. The late Sushma Swaraj went on to become one of India’s most loved leaders with her stint as the External Affairs Minister earning her admirers cutting across party lines. Her husband, Swaraj Kaushal, who is a lawyer by profession and was earlier designated as a senior advocate by the Supreme Court of India at age of 34, also served as the Governor of Mizoram at the age of 37, supported his life partner to the hilt and continues to delight Sushma Ji’s admirers by sharing past anecdotes on Twitter. So much for insecurity, right?

Nirmala Sitharaman, who was earlier the Union Defence Minister, is now leading the charge to revive the Indian economy post the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic as the Finance Minister. Sitharaman’s husband, Parakala Prabhakar is a political economist who between July 2014 and June 2018 held a cabinet rank position in the Andhra Pradesh government.  In the early 2000s, Prabhakar also served as the spokesperson for the Andhra Pradesh BJP, while his better half has reached stratospheric heights in her career, there seems to be little indication of any insecurity between Sitharaman and Prabhakar.

Smriti Irani has had a quite a chequered journey. From being one of the most loved TV actors to defeating Congress scion Rahul Gandhi in Amethi to becoming the Union Cabinet Minister for textiles and Women & Child Development, Irani indeed has come far in her career. She has a son and a daughter with her husband, Zubin Irani, and the couple living a happily married life.

It is safe to say that Barkha Dutt’s claims have absolutely no basis as it seems that her determination to badmouth India and Indians has blinded her from the facts.