dented painted women holding candles on street - agonising remark

India at times, is painted as a land of snake charmers and we get agitated that foreigners do not know much about us ~ there are times when our own politicians do not know or do not care to know about this great land !!

In my school days, have read about this word ‘painted harridan’ ~ an unpleasant old woman, who shouts a lot. Those were the days when we read for the sake of marks and understood nothing…..

Indian National Congress is a party with tradition ~ associated with the freedom struggle, whipping out the sentiments of people of this land against the ruling Britishers.  The present Congress is perhaps a far cry away and keeps nothing of the old tradition is what is understood when you hear the words of politicians uttered time and again, making us wonder whether these leaders are in touch with ground or not.  Yesterday, it was a high profile politician, the son of President Pranab Mukherjee - Abhijit Mukherjee who occupied all slots of media for his reported `dented and painted’ remark knowing fully well that there would be a hue and cry in the media over it.  There was expected outrage which included that of his sister.  A couple of days ago, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had compared the crowds protesting in New Delhi against the gangrape of a paramedical student to Maoists. Soon after that the party’s Andhra Pradesh unit chief had questioned why women should move around in the night. A week ago on a primetime television show, party MP Congress MP Sanjay Nirupam had made derogatory personal remarks against BJP leader Smriti Irani. In a season of self-goals, the party is scoring them heavily.

Already,  people are feeling bad that none of the top leaders, including Sonia Gandhi,Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh speak to the media.  In an age where every word you speak is dissected threadbare for hidden meanings, every slip of tongue makes national news and every wrong gesture travels to news consumers across the country in seconds, leaders should be adept in media manners. They cannot simply hope to escape unscathed after making a loose statement.  More importantly, they are expected to be socially responsible. 

The 23 year old student is  battling for survival after she was brutally gang-raped sadly is reported to have lost her intestines and has been airlifted to a specialty hospital in Singapore for possible organ transplant.  There are millions of concerned Indians, who have since been praying for her resurrection.

Abhijit Mukherjee is the son of the President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee.  He is a MP ~ elected from Jangipur, West Bengal in the by-election. The seat was vacated by his father President Pranab Mukherjee after he was elevated to the highest office of the country. The furore is about the views expressed by  Abhijit Mukherjee to a local channel on  the women protesters. He said,"What's basically happening in Delhi is a lot like Egypt or elsewhere, where there's something called the Pink Revolution, which has very little connection with ground realities. In India, staging candle-lit marches, going to discotheques - we did all this during our student life too, we were students too - I know every well what kind of character students should have. Those who claim to be students - I can see many beautiful women among them - highly dented-painted - they're giving interviews on TV, they've brought their children to show them the scenes. I have grave doubts whether they're students, because women of that age are generally not students."

‘painted woman’ has more than a veiled derogatory  reference to a woman whose appearance suggests she is promiscuous.

The problem in Indian politics is that many rise to higher echelons due to their family connection or using other means ~ they are Netas representative of common people.  They are used to lavish spending and are not affected by anything that affects ‘aam-admi’.  Only recently we heard a CM uttering that Rs.600/- is enough for a family of 6 for a month.

with regards – S. Sampathkumar.