Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 8: Two shocking statements, one each by a Congress and a BJP leader, have rocked the social media on Saturday.
While a Congress leader in Tamil Nadu allegedly threatened to “cut the tongue” of the judge who delivered the conviction judgement against Rahul Gandhi, the BJP’s former union minister called the girls wearing “dirty clothes” the legendary Ramayana character “Surpanakhas,” the sister of demon king Ravana.
The Congress leader in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul district has been charged for allegedly threatening to chop off the tongue of the Surat sessions court judge who delivered the verdict against Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 criminal defamation case.
The Dindigul Police on Saturday registered a case against Congress Dindigul district president, Manikandan, over his controversial remark. “A case has been registered against Congress leader Manikandan under three sections of IPC including 153B for his remarks. An investigation is underway,” officials said.
Manikandan had reportedly made the remark during a protest demonstration in Dindigul against Gandhi’s disqualification on April 6. “When we will come to power, we will chop off the tongue of the judge who delivered the verdict to send our leader Rahul Gandhi to jail,” Manikandan said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lost membership of the Lower House of Parliament after the Surat court convicted and sentenced him in the 2019 Modi surname criminal defamation case. Following his conviction, Gandhi was disqualified as an MP on March 24 and the Lok Sabha Secretariat on March 27 issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi, asking him to vacate his government bungalow following his disqualification as an MP. As per the notice, the allotment of his government bungalow will be cancelled with effect from April 24.
The BJP’s one of the major organisational leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, the national general secretary of the party, sparked outrage in the social media by saying that girls who wear “dirty clothes” look like Surpanakha, a demon from the Indian epic Ramayana.
Vijayvargiya made the comment at a religious function organised in Indore on Thursday to mark the birth anniversaries of Lord Hanuman and Mahavir. “When I go out at night and see young people intoxicated, I feel like giving them five-seven [slaps] to sober them up. I swear to God,” he said. “And the girls wear such dirty clothes… we think of women as goddesses… there’s no trace of that in them. They look like Surpanakha. God has given you a good body, wear nice clothes. Please teach your children well, I am very worried,” he added.
In the popular versions of the Ramayana, Surpanakha is the sister of the demon king Ravana. She is depicted as an ugly and lustful creature who tries to seduce Lord Ram and his brother Lakshman. When they reject her advances, she attacks them and Lakshman cuts off her nose and ears.
Vijayvargiya’s comments drew sharp criticism from the opposition and social media users, who accused him of misogyny and moral policing. Congress spokesperson Sangeeta Sharma said, “BJP leaders humiliate women again and again. It shows their thinking and their attitude. BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya ji calling women as Surpanakha and making objectionable comments on their dress is appropriate in independent India. Apologize BJP!”
The BJP leader, who belongs to Indore, is known for his controversial statements made with impunity. Last month, he claimed that after Independence and Partition, whatever was left of India constituted a “Hindu Rashtra”, brazenly contradicting the country’s founding principle of secularism.