Yes. What Abu Azmi said is disgusting.
It reeks of the patriarchal baggage that India carries;
which allows men to believe that they can dictate the rules of conduct for
women.
It is a statement that mirrors an archaic value system that
remains a large collective mindset.
It uses the oft-abused crutch of culture to make an
argument.
Culture, by definition, is - “arts and other manifestations
of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively”. The key word
here is collective.
Culture belongs to no single individual and secondly, is a
shifting goalpost. Today’s culture is reflection of today’s times and not a
slave of the past.
So the so called prophets quoting culture are doing so,
without an understanding of the word. What they refer to is actually tradition,
which again is a counterpoint to “modern”.
Hence in the very statement made by Abu Azmi; he made two
things clear – that is does not understand culture and is a traditional relic.
Making both him and his comment irrelevant.
He and his comment are nothing but a distraction. They shift
the conversation from the only thing that we should be up in arms about - nabbing
each of those cowardly culprits who took the support of a herd to grope women.
Media, which is an influencer and mirror of social
conversations, is spending more time on the comment than on the job of investigating
and helping law makers nab the molesters.
And people like us, me and social influencers are condemning
the comment more than the act.
A lot of anger is needed but let’s channelize it on the act
of molestation rather than around a stupid comment made by an irrelevant
politician.
After all, he is a guy who believes that women should also
be jailed if they are raped. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Punish-women-too-in-rape-cases-SP-leader-Abu-Azmi/articleshow/33625145.cms)
Ignorance as a statement of the person’s irrelevance is the
best response to Abu Azmi.
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