Tehelka Case: Politicians, Please Take Your Fights Elsewhere

Just as bad money drives out the good, the public sphere has seen its own version of Gresham's Law in recent days with bad politics casting a grotesque shadow over the genuine outpouring of public support for the young woman journalist who has accused Tehelka's Editor-in-Chief of rape.

Driven initially by outrage on social media over the way Tehelka tried to make light of the alleged crime and then quickly taken forward by the mainstream media, the debate over sexual harassment and assault at the workplace has raised the level of public awareness about the need for institutional mechanisms within companies to deal promptly and fairly with complaints from female employees.

There is also another important lesson to be learned. As the woman journalist has herself noted in a poignant and sharp response to the innuendo, subterfuge and diversionary bilge Tarun Tejpal and his supporters have let loose, "Rape is not about lust or sex, but about power, privilege and entitlement." (Tehelka case: What Tejpal did to me is legally rape, she says in this statement)

Power and privilege operate both before and after the crime. It is not uncommon for well-connected men accused of sexual crimes - politicians, religious leaders, persons in uniform, and now editors -- to seek refuge within a wider collective in those rare cases where the women they attack refused to be cowed down or silent. Once in the dock, such men shamelessly play on their affiliations of caste, religion, politics or ideology in order to claim that they are being targeted because of that shared identity. In extreme cases - during a war or a communal massacre - mass sexual violence is even dressed up as affirmation of that identity.

In India today, the last refuge of the scoundrel is his political affiliation. For example, when details emerged in the media of the manner in which the Gujarat government had misused the state machinery to stalk a young woman known to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party  promptly accused the Congress of "dirty tricks" and said Modi was being targeted for "political" reasons.

In similar fashion, Tarun Tejpal promptly sought to hide behind his political beliefs after his initial attempt to write his way out of an indictment collapsed. In a shameless attempt to confuse the issue, he has claimed that he is being victimized for being an opponent of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its sectarian politics and for standing up for secularism.

While his strategy is cynical and self-serving the fact is that both the BJP and the Congress have actively encouraged him to play politics.

First off the block was Arun Jaitley, with his blog post about "secular philandering." Leaving aside his inappropriate and even offensive use of the word "philandering" to describe a series of acts that the senior BJP leader himself said met the legal definition of rape, pointing to Tejpal's "secular" politics was nothing but an attempt to score political points by linking the Tehelka editor to the Congress. (Tehelka controversy: 'a clear case of rape,' says Arun Jaitley)

On its part, the Congress has prevaricated in a way that it never would have had the editor accused of rape been someone associated with the BJP.

In recent days, the political grandstanding has continued unabated with Sushma Swaraj accusing an unnamed senior Congress minister of "shielding Tejpal." A low point was touched on Thursday when a BJP leader in Delhi, Vijay Jolly, staged a noisy protest outside the residence of former Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury, attempted to block her exit and then vandalized the outside of her building. (BJP won't punish Vijay Jolly's 'goonda' act)

Instead of seeking to extract political mileage from the Tejpal issue and attacking one another, the BJP and the Congress need to realize this case is not about them. This is not about UPA vs NDA. This is not about who can use the cleverest words to score a point over a political rival. This case is about a young woman journalist who has charged her editor with sexual molestation. This case is about a woman working in an organization that sought help and justice within and was rebuffed. This case is about the hidden epidemic of sexual harassment in workplaces all across India. This case is about our willingness to shame all those men (and women) who make light of sexual violence, who question or blame the woman who was targeted, who make excuses for her attacker. This case is about our willingness to support the woman till she gets justice.

(The author is a senior journalist and a former Editor of The Hindu)

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