Who decides that someone deserves a SLAP or a CLAP?

My jaw almost dropped in shock to hear that Actor Gauhar Khan has been slapped by an unknown person from among the audience while hosting the Grand Finale of the reality show India’s Raw Star. I was all the more taken aback to discover that the accused, identified as Mohammed Akil Mallick blamed her dress for being indecently short and ‘unislamic’. Then, I heard some sexist people gossip that provocative clothing has many-a-time turned out to be the reason for women being sexually assaulted. What is interesting here is that “provocative” is used to describe a style of dressing, suggesting that clothes actually provoke something. Attention? Desire? Rape?

 Excuse me Ladies and Gentlemen when I say that Women don’t call for unwanted attention by what they wear. Okay, that Islam as a religion does have a clause for Women’s style of dressing. But if I turn to facts, plenty of assaulted women are not dressed sexily, including the Islamic women draped in head-to-toe burqas. Not to be surprised, veiled women are blamed, too: “He must have seen a bit of her ankle, wrist, hair, neck…..bah! Who could resist!?”

To make it more clear and precise for men who think that women wearing dresses which show a part of their skin signals an erotic desire from them, then the answer is a straight “NO”. And for Women who think covering up their skins would change the way some sexist men look at them, the answer again is a “NO”. No victim purposely calls for a sexual assault. It’s just the culprits’ dirty mind-set that provokes them to commit such a heinous act.

I feel proud of Women like Deepika Padukone who took a bold stand when The Times of India pointed at her cleavage in Finding Fanny and the former stated that “Yes! I am a woman. I have breasts and a cleavage! You got a problem!!??” And this time we have seen yet another example of women’s boldness that even after being allegedly assaulted, Gauhar came up on stage to continue with the show that was left to be finished. For me this lady deserves a CLAP for her sporty attitude instead of the unworthy Slap. I’m glad she took a step forward and did not let a moron like Akil win in his dirty game of defaming another powerful woman.