KOCHI: Reacting to the comments made by former MP Joice George, who in an election rally in Idukki, asked students to be wary of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying the Wayanad MP, a bachelor, goes only to girls-only colleges.Since Rahul is a bachelor, the students should be careful while doing physical exercises in front of him, Joyce had said.
After the issue triggered protests among St Teresa’s students with whom Rahul had interacted last week and Congress workers, Joice tendered an apology on Tuesday evening. However, the damage was done, especially the student community in the city.
“How can a former MP stoop so low?” asked Priya C P, a first-year MA Philosophy student at Maharaja’s College. According to her, the ex-MP’s statement comes as a shock. He is part of a front that has been making big statements on women empowerment and women’s safety.
Leaders across the political spectrum in Kerala like Rajmohan Unnithan and Mullapally Ramachandran of the Congress and A Vijayaraghavan of CPM have been guilty of spewing sexist remarks in the past.
Binitha Maria Thomas, a second-year BCom LLB student of Government Law College, said the statement by ex-MP of Idukki is yet another example of the deeply embedded misogyny in this society, she added. “Though the statement itself is unacceptable, the reaction and justification by those on the stage need to be condemned. This shouldn’t be a discussion just because it is against Rahul Gandhi.
This has to be discussed because it is a product of patriarchy sugar-coated in the conventional thought that all men who profess and promote feminism are ‘spineless’ or ‘devious’,” said Binitha. Shameema Thachamparambil, BSc Chemistry (final-year) student of Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur, said, “We need to be afraid when such statements come from a person who has such an influence in society. The time is ripe to put a stop statements that promote patriarchy,” she added.