Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Irresponsible statement) that was published in Newsband

Irresponsible statement

Abhijit Mukherjee’s image is affected due to his negative opinion about women. The Congress MP and son of President Pranab Mukherjee did apologize. But will women forgive him?

His shocking comments describing female protesters as “painted” and “dented” women, suggesting that they hopped fashionably from discotheques to street demonstrations, were not in good taste.
The sexist nature of his remarks invited the wrath of women.

In July this year, Abhijit is lobbying for the Congress ticket for Jangipur, the seat his father vacated. This gives birth to questions like whether constituencies can be treated as an inheritance and whether Abhijit is fit for Lok Sabha? Mr. Mukherjee’s own words have answered these questions.

Earlier this week, Andhra Pradesh Congress president Botcha Satyanarayana dismissed the rape as a “small incident” and said women shouldn’t go out during the late hours. These are backward comments and attempts to cover up the failure of the state to ensure the physical security of a citizen. It is such type of politicians who want to dominate, control and regulate the lives of women. Action against such politicians must be taken by senior party leaders. In a society where crimes against females are rampant, proper legislation and implementation of laws are paramount. There is urgent necessity to change social attitudes towards women. The people who seek to govern us should first change their attitudes.

The death of this girl is the depth of depravity the country has sunk to. All Indians are responsible for this because they have tolerated the corrupt rulers for too long.

After a controversy over his comments, Mukherjee said that he would not apologize for his statement and would just withdraw it if some people had taken offence to it. According to Mukherjee he meant what he said and that the protesters were not students and were 35-36 years old.

But what does it matter whether those females were students or women? The important thing is they were protesting a crime against the fair sex. When a girl of any age group is exploited it concerns all the women, whether small or big. 

However, Abhijit’s sister realized the extent of the faux pas that her brother had committed and apologized for the statement. She urged for sensitization of men over women’s issues, while not mentioning her brother.

It is strange that Abhijit’s father Pranab Mukherjee has not yet reacted to his son’s comments.

Mukherjee’s comments are just a part of a long line of sexist comments made by the MPs and other leaders against women. 

Our leaders need to realize that every protest isn’t an attempt to usurp power or topple them. And that a majority of women in India could do with all the help they can get in order to improve their plight.

Also if you wondered why Abhijeet Mukherjee never made it to mainstream politics and should be prevented from reaching it, you have your answer.