Political correctness shouldn't overwhelm our
sense of humour
A couple of
years ago, when Kumar Vishwas was making jokes about Kerala nurses, he
certainly would not have imagined it would come to haunt his future political
career. After maintaining silence over the last two days while Youth Congress
members in Kerala ransacked the offices of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Vishwas
has finally apologised from the “depths of his heart”.
The
two-year-old video emerged on YouTube this week. In it, Vishwas, who is seeking
to fight against Rahul Gandhi in the forthcoming election, is seen berating
Kerala nurses for their dark complexion. “One would naturally feel like calling
them ‘sister’” he says, before going on to add that nurses these days who come
from other parts of the country are much more glamorous. Kerala’s chief minister,
Oommen Chandy, immediately wrote to Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal,
seeking an apology.
While
the essential sexism of Vishwas’ remarks cannot be denied, it is imperative
that these be viewed within the context in where they were made. Vishwas was
speaking at a hasya kavi sammelan —
a humorous poetic round-table, as it were. These events are, by their nature,
comical, and a talented poet is expected to be quickwitted. Some amount of
teasing and inappropriate chatter is built into the very definition of the
event. Attendees at such meets, as well as their modern cousins, the stand up
comedy nights, expect to hear politically incorrect statements and offensively
acerbic observations.
To
pull up Vishwas for his comments at a kavi sammelan, then, essentially demonstrates an
intolerance towards art. In fact, it is only different in degree from the
actions of, say, religious fundamentalists who deface paintings and sculptures
because gods or goddesses are “wrongly” depicted in them.
Since
the horrific gang rape in Delhi in December 2012, the conversation about gender
rights and sensitisation towards women have, rightfully, come to the forefront.
It is, however, worrying if the ground gained in the dialogue about gender
rights in India devolves to a certain kind of gender vigilantism. If every
comment or slight is analysed clinically and without context, it will quickly
erase all the gains made in the last year. Certainly, we should be able to talk
about gender. And sometimes, we should be able to laugh about it too.
VEENA VENUGOPAL
(Senior Assistant Editor and Editor, BLink)
