Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan is a tad late to the conversation.
A month-old video of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, urging Rahul Gandhi to recite the full Vante Mataram if he wishes to smash patriarchy had piqued the actor’s interest.
“I’m issuing a challenge to you today. You want to smash the patriarchy – fair enough. I am perfectly comfortable singing Christmas carols, singing Vande Mataram in its entirety, and reciting the Shiv Tandav. It is this comment, shared by Ruchira Chaturvedi, the Congress’s national convenor for social media and digital communications, a month back that drew a response from the actor. The Congress leader then quoted from Manusmriti, a Hindu text containing laws that formed the basis of societal organisation and the judicial system of ancient India, critiquing it for confining women to restrictive roles.
So, I challenge you: if you truly want to smash the patriarchy, then go ahead and sing the full version of Vande Mataram,” the Delhi BJP MP has said, in response to Rahul Gandhi’s “smash the patriarchy” call while criticising the “Manusmriti mindset” during a ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Pune. “Ur comment made the day damn,” said another. Rahul Gandhi, speaking in Pune in August, said women are put in three boxes: as a daughter, as a wife or as a mother, underscoring that they only belong to themselves.
