Click to play videoND Tiwari, the former Andhra Pradesh governor who resigned from his post because of a sex scandal, says he won't retire from politics. Tiwari may be one of the few politicians who has actually been forced to resign from the office because of a sex scandal, but unlike in America, in India, being involved in sex scandals or affairs generally makes no difference to political fortunes.
The question that was being asked on CNN-IBN's Face The Nation was: ND Tiwari affair: Have the sex lives of politicians always been irrelevant in India?
To try and answer the question on the panel of experts were: Congress MP and spokesperson, Jayanthi Natarajan; Image Consultant and P R guru Dilip Cherian; Managing director and Editor, ABN Andhra Jyothi V Radha Krishna and Editor Manushi, Madhu Kishwar.
At the start of the show, 78 per cent of those who voted in said yes, the sex lives of politicians have always been irrelevant in India while 22 per cent disagreed.
Politicians versus sex scandals
Madhu Kishwar opened the debate by saying that it was a known fact that most politicians would be involved in “things of this kind”.
“There was the famous J&K sex scandal and everybody had joined hands to protect whoever. The CBI did a whitewash job too and nobody seemed particularly shocked simply because people knew that this happens routinely,” added Kishwar.
Sexual fidelity is considered as a sign of character, firmness and moral uprightness in the West, where sexual fidelity is supposed to reveal who you are as a person. If you are sexually weak and cheating on your wife, it would actually show that you may not be able to hold high office.
Dilip Cherian said, “The puritanical approach that the Americans take towards this is not the approach in India. For some reasons, the Indian politicians have managed to have Teflon coating as far as sex scandals are concerned,” added Cherian.
“I don’t think that sex as a barometer for judging political appropriateness for office is something that the Indian public has jumped on as one of the qualities that they are concerned about,” he added.
Jayanthi Natarajan stepped in at this point and said that every politician should be of high moral fiber.
“Certainly tainting Raj Bhawan, if it is true, is absolutely unacceptable,” added Natarajan.
At this juncture, Kishwar made a point saying, “It’s okay to overlook somebody’s personal lives but bringing whores and prostitutes to Raj Bhawan (government properties) certainly cannot be described as personal.”
“This whole country today is becoming a giant brothel,” stressed Kishwar.
Is media to be held responsible?
A sting operation was carried out on ND Tiwari. Legitimacy of journalism has been put to question on whether the operation was done in the interest of the public.
V Radha Krishna responded to the debate by saying, “He is residing in the Raj Bhawan in the capacity of a governor. He is the first citizen of the state and head of the constitution. Bringing prostitutes and exploiting the girls, using his position is certainly in the interest of the public.”
What’s the remedy?
The need to curb the sexual scandals involving politicians become all the more difficult in India where it does not have a confessional culture, without sexual morals, voters do not demand sexual fidelity. Is India heading down the slippery slope?
“I think that the slippery slope is one which is not to do with male domination because if you go deep into Indian politics, as a polity or as voters, we are equally forgiving about men and women. I don’t think you can make this a male-dominated issue,” added Cherian.
Defending the Congress party’s stand on the issue, Natarajan said, “As a party we stand for the higher standards of behaviour and I personally believe that politicians ought to set higher standards of behaviour and there can be no excuse for infidelity of any kind.”
The Indian press is quite weak-kneed. Unlike the west, there is no paparazzi that has turned the scrutiny on political leaders. There have been cases where media publications had to apologise to leaders for probing their various escapades.
“The Raj Bhawan was abused by a person none other than the governor, suppose if he was only Mr N D Tiwari, our publication would not have been interested in these things,” argued V Radha Krishna.
Dilip Cherian said, “As far as the image of a politician is concerned, his personal life is not really germane to the voter but as far as policy makers are concerned, the fact that they are amenable to inducements, either is cash or kind, is something that the public deserves and has the right to know. In fact, it is media’s duty to expose them because they way they impinge on the making of public policy it has huge public interest attached to it and this is the point that needs to be hammered home to all those who are in positions of immense authority.”
Concluding the debate Kishwar mentioned the example of Mahatma Gandhi’s approach towards women empowerment.
“One reason why Gandhi was able to bring millions of women into public life is because people felt safe in the presence of Congressmen of those days, which was held as an important qualification, today, one of the reason women are moving away from politics it that they don’t feel safe in the company of politicians.”
Results of the SMS/web poll:
Yes: 76 per cent
No: 24 per cent
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