How Sapna Choudhary exposed the hypocrisy of Indian political class
Until a few days ago, conversations about the coming Lok Sabha elections revolved mainly around Narendra Modi’s masculine nationalism in a country where brave men can’t wait to fling themselves into battle. While the BJP started shoving its 56-inch chest in the face of Indian voters, the Congress sucked its thumb in circumspection. For a moment it looked like nothing can excite the political libido of India more than “Balakot”.
And then Sapna Choudhary happened.
As the folk singer and dancer from Haryana hit the headlines on March 23 for purportedly joining the Congress party to contest the Lok Sabha elections, all hell broke loose. Rumours started doing the rounds on Saturday that the Congress was planning to field Choudhary against actor-turned-politician Hema Malini in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura. It seemed to irk the BJP so much that party MLA Surendra Singh said Congress president Rahul Gandhi is taking his family’s tradition ahead by roping in a “dancer like his mother Sonia Gandhi” and Rahul should marry her. BJP MP Ashwin Chopra called her a “thumke-wali”. “Let the Congress decide if they want her to dance for them or make her fight elections,” Chopra said.
A day later, Sapna denied joining the Congress.
To the barrage of sexist rants by sanskari Indians, Sapna responded with a Zen-like answer. She said she can’t stop anybody from speaking. It’s not her job to stop anyone. “My job is to entertain. It’s feels bad to hear such things but this does not really affect me or other dancers like me.”
Ever since, newsrooms in the national capital – worn down by Dr Prannoy Roy’s election data – are busy chasing Sapna.
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Forced to leave their pretensions, Netflix-watching suave editors are now logging into YouTube videos of Sapna’s Teri Aakhya Ka Yo Kajal (the video has 392,395,070 views).
But beyond the politics, the episode highlights one more thing: the hypocrisy of Indian men and how they see women in politics. Sapnas of India, though a ground reality, are a troubling truth for the Indian men. They can’t stop looking at her, but can’t embrace her either. We find it more comforting to be surrounded by Manoj Tiwaris and Babul Supriyos of politics who are a reason why many women don’t enter the highly caustic zone. While our idea of 33 per cent reservation for women is mostly limited to Kanjeevaram-clad ageing beauties of Bollywood in Parliament, women empowerment is encapsulated in half a dozen women ministers.
Women empowerment in India in reality is a private joke among men – something that also comes handy during political rallies and UN forum to showcase our gender equality.
In a country where glib talk about gender equality is still laced with archaic slogans of “nari shakti” and “maa tujhe salaam”, the Sapna Choudharys of India will always remain a pariah in public life. For, Indian men can be at ease in public only with women who exude “nari shakti”, not the Sapnas behind whose pelvic moves they hide their hypocrisy in the privacy of their laptop screens.
