It has been an interesting day for feminism today with two women showing the right and wrong way of taking up the cause. We are of course talking about Tehelka’s managing editor Shoma Chaudhury who has been fighting the fire created by Tarun Tejpal’s sexual assault with kid gloves and Mallika Sherawat , who surprised us today by sticking to her stand about India being a regressive State for its women.
Here lies the first twist in the tale. One would expect Chaudhury to be the one fighting for women’s issues and tackling the endemic of crimes against women with more force than anyone else. For this is the same journalist who has made her stand on feminism quite clear over the course of her reportage with Tehelka quite evident. From Gujarat riots to AFSPA to her crusade on the sad and inhuman story of Soni Sori whose brutal story needs to be read to be believed to her long proses of editorial stands against sex crimes , Chaudhury shows that she is genuinely concerned about her subjects and the woes they face by being citizens of this country.
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Yet, when the danger comes too close to her in her own office, Chaudhury flounders, then becomes convinced that she’s done the right thing and finally ends up resigning from her post when the pressure gets too much. The feminist in Chaudhury allows the journalist in her to flee to a safer ground. This kind of proselytizing your propaganda first and then running away is something one expects from politicians and babus but from a well-known and distinguished journalist like Chaudhury this behaviour is alarming.
It shows that when caught unawares with a conflict she was intricately involved with her values and principles were malleable and indeed, changeable. Why else would Chaudhury ask the aggrieved victim to accept Tejpal’s apology and resolve the matter internally in the first place rather than raise a ruckus along with her?
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Compare this to Mallika Sherawat’s recent interview video that has gone viral. To give you a back-story, the actress had given an interview during her visit to the Cannes Film Festivalearlier this year saying that India was a hypocritical society when it came to its women. The actress was pilloried for keeping alive the notion that India is a regressive place for first-world citizens who were attending the event.
However, the actress has shown exemplary guts to stick to her statement half a year later. When asked by a female reporter why she said what she said at Cannes, Sherawat did not back away. Instead, she took the opportunity to make her feminist intention loud and clear for everyone present. “I will not be a part of this hypocrisy in India where we do something and say something else. I refuse to lie about the state of women in our country,” she replied. She addresses serious topics such as female foeticide and the gangrapes that have become regular news items in our papers now.
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Sherawat had the temerity to shake us out of our apathy towards women in those few minutes. For too long, we have allowed ourself the illusion that the actress has no future in the film industry. If that comes true, I, for one, sincerely hope she goes and campaigns for organisations and NGOs that help distressed women. Nobody need call her an opportunist. Because when the question came to her when her motives were questioned, Sherawat was ready to speak her mind independently and sensibly.
The difference between Shoma Chaudhury and Mallika Sherawat’s response to the same issue could not be more stark. Where the former shocked the nation with her cover-ups and bumbling, Sherawat proved that simply sticking to what you believe in was enough to establish your credentials.
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