NEW DELHI: Asaram Bapu ran into a hail of protests from his comments on anti-rape laws with activists demanding that religious and political leaders be held accountable for their statements.
Coming amid a statement of what they called "sexist" and "misogynic" remarks from the political class, Asaram's statement infuriated the activists for whom he had so far been a distant figure. The so-called guru, hardly a stranger to controversies, had said that the victim of the Delhi gang-rape could have saved herself by addressing her violators as bhaiyya and beseeching for mercy.
He aggravated the provocation on Monday by claiming that an "anti-men" campaign had taken hold following the Delhi gang-rape incident, and that a new anti-rape law enacted in such a climate will be prone to be similarly misused as anti-dowry laws and SC and ST Act.
AIDWA's Sudha Sundaraman condemned the godman's statement terming it as injustice of the worst kind and advocating strong punishment against leaders making irresponsible statements. " The statements made are highly objectionable, regressive and anti-women. Such people should be called to question. This is further victimization of the victim and deeply insulting to women."
The strong sentiment was echoed by the Centre for Social Research's Ranjana Kumari who said that such "irresponsible and ridiculous statements were responsible for encouraging rapists." "Such people should be socially boycotted. It is these people who are responsible in society for creating misogynist values," she said.
Activist lawyer Vrinda Grover was also ourtaged, contending that Asaram Bapu was far removed from the reality, and represented those who were scared of women empowerment. "What he is saying is that women must beg for her life and not fight back. Reports said that the victim expressed a will to live. That is a huge paradigm shift from those victims of sexual assault who would like to kill themselves out of shame. People like him are scared that women are now asserting themselves," she said.
Social scientist Imitaz Ahmad also reacted angrily to the Asaram's utterances. "The Delhi rape case has become an occasion for whosoever to say whatever they feel like. A rapist is not going to go into the niceties of the act. Nor by calling him brother will stop him in the act. Somewhere deep down there's a moral, ethical and social decay in our society. We need to re-think our moral structures and values if we want to get over this".
Reacting in a similar vein, Ayesha Kidwai, an academic, said : "The statement is appalling. The thing we have to understand about competitive sexism as evident from such statements of religious leaders is that they are uncomfortable with the questions women have raised recently. What he has said goes beyond sexual assault; it is a tawdry attempt at putting the blame back on the victim.
Lawyer Kirti Singh said, " It is obvious the way they treated the victim that the rapists did not have any human consideration. It was a sexual assault of the worst kind with brutal beatings. You do get these kind of statements on a victim's conduct or clothing. But this one is really far-fetched."
Parties close ranks to condemn Asaram Bapu
Activists seek action against Asaram Bapu for his comments on Delhi gang-rape incident
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Activists seek action against Asaram Bapu for his comments on Delhi gang-rape incident
