Skip to main content

AAP's Atishi being shamelessly attacked, but why was Vishwas' "sexist" view ignored?

Kumar Vishwas, Atishi
By Nandini Oza*
The recent abusive-sexist attack on Atishi, Aam Admi Party (AAP) Lok Sabha candidate for the parliamentary elections, 2019, is most deplorable. I condemn the same in strongest words first as a woman and then as a person in public life. I truly hope the Delhi police will book the perpetrators and soon. This is the least the Delhi police could do. This episode also shows the extent to which women are vulnerable to abusive and sexist mindset prevalent in the country.
This incident also takes me back to the year 2014. It takes me back to the period just a few months before the general elections five years ago when AAP had caught the imagination of the country, specially the youth. It was then that I was very disturbed by the statements of one of the senior and high profile members of AAP, Kumar Vishwas. 
As his statements in some of his public programmes circulating on social media were sexist, and terribly anti-women, I raised the same before Atishi who was at that time appointed by AAP as a member of the committee under Vishakha guidelines (the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace [Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal] Act, 2013 ).
I highlight some concerns from my correspondence with Atishi on the subject here as it is an issue of public importance and concerns dignity and well being of women. The YouTube clippings as part of my correspondence with Atishi at that time are thankfully not available now for viewing but these contained derogatory and sexist remarks against women among other things by Vishwas.
On Tuesday, January 14, 2014, I wrote to Atishi the following:
“...I am pleased to know that you are one of the members on the committee appointed by AAP under Vishakha guidelines... I know all of you must be busy but I wish to take up a bit of your time on one issue that is of concern to me.
"I wish to know whether Vishwas has been finalized by AAP as the candidate to contest election against Rahul Gandhi...I would like it if you could see some of the things he has said...I thought it would be good to bring the same to your notice. In order to save your time, I have marked the tracks you could see directly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_LXzFU14e0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOkHHVy7jp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmG-bBXJNgE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFCAZzmq3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOkHHVy7jp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZInPzdp-I-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOkHHVy7jp4 ".

Initially, I was pleased to receive a prompt reply from Atishi on January 14 itself informing me that she had not only seen the videos but was also aware of the concerns in the matter. She also conveyed to me that she would discuss the matter with me soon.
Unfortunately, I received no call or meaningful response in the matter I had raised from any member of the committee or from AAP. The response was, Vishwas was not only selected as AAP’s candidate to contest the 2014 parliamentary election but starkly, he was selected by the party for the high profile battle at Amethi against Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani. 
It was clear that the country’s focus after Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi’s contest at Varanasi was going to be Amethi at the time of 2014 general elections.
This came as a setback to me – more so in the backdrop of no response on the anti-women-sexist remarks by Vishwas I had raised before AAP member who was also the committee member of AAP under Vishakha guidelines.
Naturally the discontent within AAP over Vishwas’ stature in the party with his very poor gender sensitive record was to grow and important members within AAP began questioning the same.
Mallika Sarabhai
One of them who raised strong questions on Vishwas' views on women, gay community, etc at that time was AAP member Mallika Sarabhai, who needs no introduction. However, it is necessary to highlight that Sarabhai has fought for women’s rights and has raised issues concerning minority and marginalized communities, particularly in Gujarat. 
She has been one of the early teachers for a whole generation of Gujaraties on matters of women’s equality and justice. She has taken fearless stand on sensitive issues in a state that has ruthlessly marched towards polarization over development, caste and communal issues. 
My early lessons on feminist work and campaign came from two individuals in Gujarat -- Trupti Shah and Mallika Sarabhai. Mallika Sarabhai’s dance performance titled “Sita’s daughters" has left a lasting impression on many from my generation. 
Sarabhai contesting 2009 general election against Lal Krishna Advani while Modi was the Chief Minister of the Gujarat was no ordinary fete. It was Sarabhai who as member of AAP, raised the following questions on Vishwas’ views on women:
“Vishwas’ views in the video were disturbing. He comes across as sexist and anti-gay, and has an anti-minority point of view, and at the same time praises Narendra Modi” (click HERE and HERE).
Unfortunately, Sarabhai’s concerns too were not entertained by AAP, and Vishwas became AAP’s high profile candidate in the 2014 general elections at Amethi.
Being an activist at heart and not in the habit of giving up issues easily, I once again wrote to Atishi many months later after the 2014 general election verdict was out in which AAP had not fared as well as expected. (Vishwas himself was at fourth position at Amethi in spite of a high decibel campaign over several months in the run up to the election.)
In my letter I expressed that as a well wisher, I would request AAP that while evaluating its 2014 election performance, AAP examines a few things. One being, evaluate how much of not responding to important issues raised by the sympathizers of AAP has resulted into the disconnect that may be building between AAP and the people.
Today when Atishi has been so shamelessly attacked, my heart truly goes out to her and all the women in public life who have been subjected to sexist and abusive remarks. At the same time, I also hope that AAP will draw lessons from this offensive incident against Atishi in dealing with anti-women and sexist mindset of any of its party members quickly and sternly in future.
---
*Independent researcher and activist. Formerly with Narmada Bachao Andolan. First published as letter to AAP in https://nandinioza.blogspot.com/

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.