Copyright © 2010 Times of India
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Goa appears extremely ill served by its politicians. First, there is the tardiness of police in investigating the alleged rape of a Russian tourist by a local politician. Then there are the follow-up comments of Shantaram Naik, Rajya Sabha MP from the state, which not only hit a new low in their sheer insensitivity and callousness towards women but may also have triggered a diplomatic contretemps between India and Russia. Naik audaciously and irresponsibly suggested that the “rape of a lady who moves with strangers for days together and even beyond middle of the night is to be treated on a different footing”. If we go by what Naik says, we now need to have different categories of rape, depending on what time of day it is committed.
Even that isn’t all. Goa chief minister Digamber Kamat has chosen to step into the fray by announcing, portentously, that it is up to tourists to follow “certain code and responsibilities”, without specifying what these are. The Russian consulate in Mumbai has issued a stinging riposte, expressing unhappiness at the slow rate of police investigations into crimes against tourists, and stating sarcastically that it is willing to impose a 10 p.m. curfew on its citizens in Goa if that is what the state’s lawmakers want.
Though Naik’s despicable comments were condemned across the political spectrum and the deputy chairperson admonished him for speaking in a manner derogatory to women, this isn’t the first time that a political leader has attempted to justify crimes against women by suggesting that they asked for it. The Scarlett Keeling murder, also in Goa, evoked similar reactions from the political class, who maligned the girl’s character and her mother’s lifestyle rather than addressing the law and order problem that led to her death. Naik’s remarks might have been expunged from Rajya Sabha records, but the sexist attitudes implicit in his statement appear widespread among politicians.
Xenophobia also plays its part in cases like Keeling’s and the Russian tourist’s, as sexist innuendoes are combined with claims that Goa is being culturally overrun by tourists. If Goa’s representatives are convinced this is the case, they should be explicit about it and declare that the state’s economy will rely on resources other than tourism. If, however, tourists are seen as good for the economy, beefing up their security is a must. Let’s not give the country a bad name by invoking medieval values.
