What is it about public life and a peripatetic microphone thrust into the face for a quick comment that makes even the sanest people say the craziest things? This nameless disease, characterised by a propensity to put one’s foot in one’s mouth, appears to have become rampant in the country of late and Kiran Bedi, who made a name for herself as an uncompromising police officer, is the latest to join the bandwagon.
In using the term “small rape” when speaking of her perceived grievance against the media for inadequate reporting of Team Anna’s campaign against corruption, Ms Bedi has stirred a hornets’ nest. The insane comment has naturally drawn the ire of activists and the National Commission for Women.
Rape is a despicable crime whose hapless victims, in a near absolute majority of cases, are women. As a woman and a police officer who may have had to deal with the problem, Ms Bedi had no business being so casual about it. Far from being apologetic, she has been splitting hairs over whether she used “small” to describe petty officers committing rape and being hanged while the big ones go scot-free, or to the crime itself.
In bringing rape into the discussion, Ms Bedi has shown a level of insensitivity that she may have developed as a high-profile campaigner fighting the government on big issues. She must unequivocally apologise for her remark or, otherwise, face the wrath of women insulted by such a casual reference to a terrible crime.