New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya sparked a controversy with a misogynistic statement in which he equated girls who wear clothes of their choice to Shurpanakha, a mythical figure from the Ramayana. Vijayvargiya, the BJP general secretary, was speaking at a religious function in his hometown Indore on the occasion of Hanuman and Mahavir Jayanti.
“When I go out at night and see young people intoxicated, I feel like giving them five-seven [slaps] to sober them up. I swear to God,” Vijayvargiya can be heard saying in a video that has gone viral on social media platforms. Speaking in Hindi, he can be heard saying, “We consider women devi (goddess). But when you see these girls who wear dirty clothes, there is no trace of a Goddess in them. They look like Shurpanakha. God has given you a good body, wear nice clothes. Please teach your children well, I am very worried.”
“लड़कियां इतने गंदे कपड़े पहनकर निकलती हैं, पूरी शूर्पणखा लगती हैं”
◆ BJP नेता कैलाश विजयवर्गीय का बयान @JournalistVipin | Kailash Vijayvargiya | pic.twitter.com/6VNmfy5BE7
— News24 (@news24tvchannel) April 7, 2023
Comparing young girls and women to Shurpanakha, according to Vijayvargiya, is an extreme insult. The popular version of the Ramayana depicts Shurpanakha, sister of Lanka’s King Ravana, as an “ugly” and “lustful” creature trying to seduce Lord Ram and his brother Lakshman. Lakshman, the Ramayana claims, cut off her nose and ears.
Vijayvargiya is known for making controversial statements at public events. Just a month ago, he claimed that after partition and independence, what was left of India constituted a “Hindu Rashtra”.
The reference to Shurpanakha too is not a new one. In 2018, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed, in his speech in Rajya Sabha, that the Aadhaar scheme was conceptualised by the A.B. Vajpayee government, Congress member Renuka Chowdhury laughed out hysterically. The then Vice President of India and chairman of Rajya Sabha M. Venkaiah Naidu had chided her for her “conduct”, however, Modi requested him not to say anything to her. Modi said he heard such laughter for the first time after the Ramayan serial telecast on Indian television in the late 80s. The BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya had later taken to Twitter and posted a clip from the popular television serial along with a comment: “Someone sent me this video clip from Ramayana in response to ‘identify the laughter’ contest… Can you identify her?”