Bharatiya Janata Party Minister and MP Giriraj Singh’s comment — that had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman the Congress would not have accepted her leadership — was one more xenophobic attempt to denigrate Sonia Gandhi, suggesting that she possessed no quality other than the colour of her skin to make her eligible for such a role. But in his choice of example he revealed an Indian reality: our obsession with fair skin. If >Mr. Singh’s racist remarks were uttered in Bihar, almost simultaneously his BJP colleague, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, told striking nurses that they should not sit in the sun to protest as that would darken their skins, reducing their chances of securing husbands. Unlike Mr. Singh who was making a nasty political point, Mr. Parsekar was possibly just being facetious. But the two statements taken together only reinforce existing stereotypes created by matrimonial advertisements that seek fair-skinned brides and the range of lotions that promise to make you fair and lovely — or fair and handsome — to improve your prospects both in the marriage and job markets. Ironically, this is in a country where dark-skinned women have been extolled in epic and verse: the Mahabharata, referring to Draupadi, dwells on her “velvet skin” that is “dark”. In the 20th century, Tagore’s “Krishnakali” is a paean to another dark-skinned beauty: “Ah, you call her dark; let that be, her black gazelle eyes I have seen.”
Evidently, these two men who belong to a party that claims to be familiar with Indian mythology and culture need to be educated. Worse, as holders of high office — Mr. Singh is a Central Minister, Mr. Parsekar runs a State — they have forgotten that they are role models. In Mr. Singh’s case, he has not just offended the Congress which has demanded that he be sacked, but also the Nigerians who have registered their protest and demanded an apology for his “unacceptable” comment. But this controversy goes beyond colour — it reflects the cheapening national discourse on women at a time when issues ranging from women’s security to their share in political decision-making have taken centre stage. Indeed, the hostility of male lawmakers over the years to progressive legislation concerning women — ranging from reservation for them in legislatures to measures to protect them from sexual harassment — has not abated. As women get educated and demand their space and independence, the men, including our MPs and MLAs, are clearly not keeping pace. If India is to achieve superpower status, it must make women equal partners in this country’s progress.
