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Journalism of Courage
A defiant Kerala BJP president, K Surendran, on Wednesday said there was nothing insulting in his reference to CPI(M) women leaders as “Putana”. His statement came after the Thiruvananthapuram city police booked him for allegedly making the derogatory remarks, under sections 354 A(iv) (making sexually coloured comments against women) and 509 (insulting modesty of women by gesture or words) of the Indian Penal Code, following a complaint by CPI(M) leader C S Sujatha. In Hindu mythology, Putana was a demoness who was killed by the infant Lord Krishna.
Reacting to the case registered against him, Surendran said the reference to Putana was a political one, and that there was nothing anti-woman in it. “It was a general statement against CPI(M) women, who have indulged in corruption after coming to power on account of women’s empowerment. It was not meant against any [specific] leader,” he said.
Addressing a function in Thrissur on Sunday, Surendran was reported as saying that women leaders in the CPI(M), which leads the LDF government in the state, have become fat after looting people. He also reportedly called CPI(M) women leaders Putana.
Alleging political motive to the case against him, Surendran asked why police hadn’t registered a case against CPI(M) leader and former state minister G Sudhakaran, when the latter had called Congress leader Shanimol Usman ‘Putana’, while she was contesting an Assembly bypoll in 2018.
“When an Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader made derogatory remarks about the marriage of CPI(M) leader Mohammed Riyas with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan, why was no CPI(M) leader bothered to file a complaint against the IUML leader? When CPI(M) Politburo member A Vijayaraghavan made vulgar comments about Congress leader Ramya Haridas’s meeting with IUML leader P K Kunhalikkutty, nobody filed a complaint,” he justified.
Surendran’s comments had led to Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan of the Congress asking the BJP leader to tender an apology, calling his remarks highly condemnable and an insult to women.
Youth Congress leader Veena S Nair lodged a police complaint and sought legal action against Surendran. In her complaint, she said Surendran’s comments were an insult to women.
