In response to Ashutosh: India is not ready to handle a political sex scandal
In the murky world of sex and politics, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Ashutosh’s blog “The sex was consensual, private act” is really refreshing.
He tells it as it is: common man - sex - privacy. Then he goes a step further and quickly rakes up the persecution syndrome of the AAP: Why us?
The AAP leader wisely reprimands us on scandal-mongering and asks us to raise the quality of our political discourse.
Buoyed by his appeal, I read his blog carefully for pointers to a better conscience but all I gleaned was a list of potential scandals. It turns out that he did not think it worthwhile to discuss the said minister’s (Sandeep Kumar) achievements in his office and the glorious career that overshadows the indiscretion.
At least he could have talked about the achievements of AAP that negate such personal drawbacks among its ministers.
Instead, he lists past indiscretions of leaders that have long existed in India’s collective memory. Indian public has always been well versed with the sexual appetites of its powerful elite, so none of the names are a surprise to anyone.
He is not the first person to break the news about Jawaharlal Nehru’s mythical relation with lady Mountbatten or Mahatma Gandhi’s enthused struggles with celibacy. The 24x7 news cycle has not changed awareness of the sexual shenanigans of our leaders; it has only served a role in its exposure. It has transformed sexual indiscretions of the powerful men from gossip to testimony.
If Ashutosh knew better (or googled history of political scandals), he would have distanced himself from such moral depravity, thereby gaining a higher political ground. One would imagine that given the strong likelihood of such scandals in public life, a political party would have an emergency script for such untoward incidents even before they start campaigning for votes.
Ashutosh’s rushed thoughts show how unprepared and confused AAP is with respect to its own status as a political party of some consequence. It is unbecoming for powerful people to claim to be a "common man" when we wouldn’t have been discussing the affair at the first place if Sandeep Kumar was a plumber and not the minister of women and child welfare in the Delhi government.
Through his post, Ashutosh is trying to deny the reality of a political sex scandal and its fascination among the general public. Should all recent sex scandals be attributed to a sudden moral decline among Indians or to our unscrupulous media?
Sex scandals are interesting and captivating. Michael Foucault attributed human fascination with sex scandals to the simultaneous pleasure we get along with the feelings of degradation and shame that accompanies sex. Many nuances of political office still remain inaccessible to Indian voters but the sexual hijinks are relatable.
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| AAP spokesperson Ashutosh wisely reprimands us on scandal-mongering in his blog. (Photo credit: PTI) |
It is indicative of a person’s character weakness and ideological failing to even the most basic of human minds. Indiscreet sex indicates corrupt power. The changing social context as well as flourishing connectivity of the world shows politicians will have to make fundamental adjustments in their private lives if they want to hold on to their offices.
The whole episode makes clear that not only are Indians new to political sex scandals, we are confused about our position with regard to consensual sex that is part and parcel of it. For the National Commission of Women (NCW) to get into this controversy is a worse transgression and exposes the insincerity of the institution for women.
They seem intent about proving women as weak creatures incapable of consent and sexual desires. The NCW’s actions have had a direct negative impact on the issue of women’s rights more than the original event.
Their actions have shown there is an adverse relation between the expanded self-expression in our democracy and women’s emancipation, when in fact both go hand in hand.
All said and done, Ashutosh’s blog and the events surrounding it only prove that our political leaders have always been the same, but our attitudes towards their private life is changing.
The exposé shows we are more willing to talk about the imprudence of our leaders and hold them to a greater standard of moral conduct while in public office.
But the actions of NCW and the response of other political parties demonstrate that we have definitely not elevated our discourse on women’s position in the society. They are still pawns for the power drunk Indian polity.
Kumar's affair of having sex with two women is not about women’s rights or the private life of our citizens, as much as it is about a political sex scandal in a young political party. Besides this is not the last time the Indian audience will see and hear about politicians having sex outside of their marriages.
The question that we should be really asking is: Do Indians deserve political scandals? Are we mature enough to handle this guilty pleasure?
Is Indian democracy ready to handle a political sex scandal without muddling it with the more serious matter of women’s emancipation?