7 min readDec 9, 2023 02:39 PM IST
First published on: Dec 9, 2023 at 01:51 PM IST
This is a shout-out to Mahua Moitra. We belong to different parties, Mahua and I. Not just that. I am dead opposed to the party Mahua Moitra belongs to. I can list the reasons why, but that is not relevant here. There are issues on which we must speak out regardless of our political differences. Mahua’s case goes beyond the reality that many women leaders of our country, whether in the Treasury benches or in the Opposition, have had to face — rank sexism, character assassination, crude comments, malicious gossip, dismissive attitudes and so on, the list is endless. But in this case, sexism and misogyny have been used to subvert the system itself to the extent of expelling Moitra from Parliament.
If we cannot unite as women to condemn what this government has done and the way it has behaved in this case, our silence will prove to be a fatal trap for generations of women after us, who have dreams of coming into public life. In the last Session, the government had wrongly claimed the credit for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, which was the result of the sustained struggle of women themselves. But in this Session, the government can rightly claim credit for setting a new record in the sexist targeting of a woman. This hardly enhances the image of the mother of democracy. Mahua has displayed personal courage and strength in the face of a vitriolic campaign backed by the most powerful men in our country. She has stood firm, never flinched or backed down. Good for you Mahua.
It is utterly wrong to cite the precedent of the earlier MPs who were expelled, without a chance to put forward their case, or in the name of following tradition, to deny her a chance to speak in her defence against the charges levied against her.
In December 2005, a sting operation by online news site Cobrapost that aired on Aaj Tak showed 11 MPs accepting cash in exchange for raising questions in Parliament. Out of the 11 MPs accused in the case, six were from the BJP, three from BSP, and one each from the RJD and Congress. The then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee set up a committee to inquire into the charges, which included representatives of the BJP, the main Opposition party. The committee recommended their expulsion. When it was put to vote in the Lok Sabha, the BJP walked out. Press reports quote LK Advani, who was then leader of the Opposition, as having said that while what the MPs had done was corruption but “more than that it was stupidity” and the punishment of expulsion was too harsh. This was the defence of the BJP for its own MPs when it was an open and shut case with clear proof.
Compare it to the present case. There is not a shred of evidence of any “cash for questions”. Precisely because there is no evidence, the so-called recommendation has been made for a CBI inquiry. Then why did the government not wait till after the CBI inquiry is over and her guilt proven? Why rush to expel her? Much has been made of “ expensive” gifts she has received. Why the double standards? Was there ever an inquiry into the expensive gift worn by the Prime Minister — was the monogrammed pin-striped suit given by his “ friend”, a wealthy diamond dealer less costly than the Hermes scarf or the make-up kit accepted by Moitra? In his case, there was no inquiry into a quid pro quo. Is it because he donated it to charity after the adverse comment it invoked? Or is it that Mahua is a woman and that she received a gift from a male, the difference?
Mahua Moitra in the eyes of the regime was a soft target to send a wider message — anyone who names him who is never to be named, has to face the consequences. The knives were out much earlier. In March this year, Nishikant Dubey, the same BJP MP who had made the complaint, had compared Moitra and a woman MLA from Jharkhand to “courtesans”. His educational credentials of being an MBA had been questioned by the two women and in response he had tweeted: “All workers are requested not to make light comments for the woman who does not respect the elders, especially a woman MP from Bengal who is a victim of perverted mentality and my perverted legislature (sic) of Jharkhand. We come from a culture where we treated the Nagar Vadhu of Vaishali with respect”. “Nagar vadhu” was a term used to describe “a woman belonging to the whole city” – a courtesan. No action was taken against him by his party’s leaders.
After the charges of corruption were made against Moitra by Dubey, based on information he received from his contact, she called him out, and publicly stated that there was a motive since his informant held a grudge against her as a “jilted ex”. Perhaps this is the first time that a woman MP has publicly spoken about an intimate relationship. Such is the male supremacist hypocrisy of those who were targeting her that this became the one-point agenda to go after her at a personal level. Private and personal photographs were circulated by trolls, with the most sexist comments. In their world of the chaste, subordinate, obedient nari – her head necessarily covered, eyes lowered, her steps always following in the footsteps of her better half— what better way to damn a woman in public perception than to share images of her smoking a cigar, or holding a glass of wine. Worst of all actually wearing a dress. How immoral can she be?
Shamefully, the Ethics Committee itself is reported to have behaved most unethically. It reportedly made highly objectionable insinuations against her through questions about her relationship with Hiranandani. Would any man appearing before the Ethics Committee be asked such questions? It was such questions which forced opposition MPs in the committee to walk out.
Through this public campaign against her, often repeated in some sections of the mainstream media, the facts got concealed and distorted. She had raised pointed questions about Adani industries. She had exposed the double standards of the government in their treatment of this particular business house. She was not the only one who had raised such questions. Inside and outside Parliament, leaders of most opposition parties had raised similar issues. The development of crony capitalism is a question of national interest and concern. Expelling Moitra will not make the questions go away.
The writer is a member of the CPM Politburo
TMC leader Mahua Moitra addresses the media with Congress MP Sonia Gandhi and other opposition leaders after being expelled by the Lok Sabha during the Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Friday. (Photo: PTI) 
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