Indian minister Rajendra Singh Gudha has been facing criticism for making an inappropriate remark about Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif. The video of his statement has been going viral on the media with different users cursing him in different ways. According to reports, Gudha was interacting with the villagers of his constituency when someone asked him to get the roads repaired. Instead of giving a straight answer in return, he said that the roads in his area should be made like Katrina Kaif’s cheek. He repeated the statement again when he noticed that the public also enjoyed his women-objectifying comment.
Gudha is Congress MLA, elected as a Minister of State for Rural Development in Rajasthan. He was addressing the public in his assembly constituency of Udaipurwati.
Indian Minister Disgusts Viewers
Some intellectual Indian citizens did not find the misogynistic remark funny and criticized the Indian minister for being a pervert. They called out the Congress leaders to get rid of him as it has been highlighting women’s issues and promising notable representation for women in the upcoming assembly elections.
The Crowd is also Disappointing
The classic case of “ignorant people elect ignorant leaders” was at play here. Many were shocked to see how the public reacted joyfully at the questionable remark. They felt like they lived in an uncivilized region where disrespecting women was some kind of fun activity for men.
Unfortunately, it is not the first time Indian politicians compared the roads to the cheeks of Bollywood actresses. Yet, some elements of the Indian public did not learn that saying such things about women was wrong.
I think we are far far away from civilised, liberated society. It’s not about the leader making a vulgar remark, it’s the crowd picking up the nuances for a clap. I had thought they would have realised after Lalu’s comments that it’s a bad one, irresponsible.
— Prabhat Sinha 🇮🇳 (@peekaysinha) November 24, 2021
is it Normal for Indian Politicians to Objectify Women?
It seems that a lot of Indian politicians are obsessed with famous Bollywood actresses.
Leader of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party Lalu Prasad Yadav allegedly gave the sexist statement in 2005. According to reports, he had said that he would make Bihar roads as smooth as the Hema Malini’s cheeks. However, Lalu has denied saying that and accused his political opponents of spreading this lie. Reportedly, he specifically alleged that former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee made the comment.
In another instance, a former politician of the Samajwadi Party, Raja Ram Pandey also promised in 2013 to make Pratapgarh roads like the cheeks of “Hema Malini and Madhuri Dixit”. CM at that time, Akhilesh Yadav fired him following his controversial comment. In the same year, the Indian Minister of the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Brijmohan Agarwal said that the state’s roads were as shiny as the Dream Girl (nickname of Hema Malini).
In 2019, Indian National Congress leader PC Sharma said that the roads of Madhya Pradesh were like the cheeks of BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya and claimed that the Congress government would make it like Hema Malini’s cheeks.
This problem is persistent in the neighboring country Pakistan as well. in 2018, Cheif Justice, Saqib Nisar also faced criticism for objectifying women while addressing the public. He said that “speech is like a women’s skirt – not too long that someone loses interest and not too short that it doesn’t cover the subject”.
