Isn’t it funny that it took our minister quite a few days to realize that the reason why she turned red was not the Parsa district CDO Durga Prasad Bhandari’s inability to provide her a posh vehicle but because “he grabbed her hand and pulled her into her chamber”? Lies, lies and more lies. The problem with this argument, Minister Begum, is that it is a figment of your imagination. Had that been the case, we would certainly have heard something on this line by now from others who were present to receive you at the CDO’s office premises. Please, we won’t be taken for a ride when it’s clear as crystal what the truth is!
Minister Begum, like you and me, is a mere human being and is prone to make mistakes. I don’t have a problem with that. The issue here is that she is not ready to concede that she made a mistake and tender an apology.
The reasons that Minister Begum has cooked up deserve strong condemnation for two primary reasons. One, she is trying to (mis)use the fact that she is a ‘woman’ to her advantage. Two, by doing so, she is, knowingly or unknowingly, sending across the message that most men are ‘leeches’ and that they will try to take advantage of a woman whenever and wherever possible.
There is another equally strong reason why her flimsy excuse should be condemned by all, especially the women of her own community. When she said that she was not able to speak out the truth immediately because she was a ‘Muslim woman’, she was deliberately projecting every woman of her community as demure, submissive and suppressed. I beg to differ. There are hundreds and thousands of Muslim women who are dauntless, bold and forthright and who will fight for their rights immediately when some ‘genuine’ injustice is meted out to them. Minister Begum, I also find it extremely puzzling as to why someone who displays so much courage to slap a high-level bureaucrat, not once but many times, is not bold enough to right away talk about what ‘actually’ happened!
Minister Begum, like you and me, is a mere human being and is prone to make mistakes. She committed a mistake by physically assaulting the CDO and will undoubtedly make more mistakes in the future. I don’t have a problem with that. The issue here is that she is not ready to concede that she made a mistake and tender an apology.
I am also appalled that Minister Begum’s party Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (Democratic) hasn’t yet taken action against her. What kind of culture is the party cultivating by keeping silent when a member of the party displays such a barbaric attitude? Would the party have stayed silent if Bhandari had slapped the minister? What about the government? Isn’t this impunity, something that they time and again charge the Maoists for promoting? Please bear in mind that statements such as “we will try to seek an apology” won’t suffice. A wrong is a wrong, irrespective of who has committed it, and it has to be righted—immediately! By not taking action against a minister, aren’t we sending across the message that civil servants can be harassed and harangued by anyone in the government? Imagine what kind of dent it will create in the psyche of civil servants at large.
I dread to think that people such as Minister Begum will write the constitution of ‘New Nepal’ and I dread to imagine how Minister Begum treats subordinates at her ministry when she doesn’t even spare a high-ranking officer such as the CDO.
It’s leaders like Minister Begum who besmirch the image of politicians. Not all of them are half as bad as they are projected to be. But when they don’t stand up during such times, they are unknowingly compelling the people to club them together with politicians of her kind. As Alceste tells Philinte in Moliere’s famous play “The Misanthrophe”:
“ … there’s nothing worse
Than sharing honors with the universe
Esteem is founded on comparison
To honor all men is to honor none.”
bhuwan@myrepublica.com
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