Dumka rape case: The Jharkhand rape case, that has kickstarted a discussion on safety of women and women tourists in India, has led to a war of words between a US journalist who highlighted instances of “sexual aggression” in India and National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma who believes that writing about the same online tentamounts to defaming the country.
When US journalist, David Josef Volodzko, known for his work in WSJ and Bloomberg, said that the level of sexual aggression he witnessed in India is unlike anywhere else, Sharma responded: “Did you ever report the incident to Police? If not than you are totally an irresponsible person. Writing only on social media and defaming whole country is not good choice (sic).”
Sharma’s response, especially as the head of the NCW, did not go down well with netizens. She was faced with a barrage of severe comments and criticism.
Volodzko, now in a lengthy response to her social media post, has said that India will always remain one of his favourite places in the world and that he loves India. He said that India has one of the richest cultures, boasts “captivating beauty”, and unparalleled food, culture, and nature. Even so, problems exist.
“Problems exist. I’m the last person you have to tell because I’m a strident critic of India’s flaws. As I am of Gaza, Korea, Israel, China, the US, Peru, and other places that I love. The places I do not love, I care less if they improve. Yes, problems exist. But so do the charms, and if you don’t know them, you don’t know India,” he said, replugging an earlier response on safety in India.
“In fact, I will tell you something more. I have already shared some of the awful stories of sexual assault in India, but of the many women I have met and come to know as friends in India, all of whom had such experiences in one way or another, not one ever concluded that India was a s***hole worth nothing. To the great credit of these wise women, they saw the horror more directly than you or I, and the beauty. None became bigots,” he said.
The journalist then said that Indians do not seem to have much respect for NCW and mostly because they have a “deplorable habit of blaming women when they are attacked, raped or even murdered”. He said that NCW makes India less safe for women.
“Sharma herself has faced criticism for failure to respond to complaints filed by women's rights groups over credible allegations of women being publicly stripped naked, beaten by mobs and raped in public. And yet here she is with the gall to accuse me of defaming India,” he said.
Volodzko said that it is Sharma who is defaming India by presiding over NCW and not doing anything about the Jharkhand rape case but criticising people like him for drawing attention to the matter.
“I love India. I don't have enough heart to hold all the love I have for India, nor enough words to express it. But do you?” he said.
The debate on women safety kickstarted after a Spanish traveller was gang-raped in Jharkhand’s Dumka on Friday. The woman and her husband were travelling through Asia, and had gone to Pakistan and Bangladesh before reaching India to go to Nepal.
Dumka Superintendent of Police Pitambar Singh Khairwar confirmed that they were bikers, who had stopped to take rest and set up a makeshift tent in Dumka’s Kunji village. “They were supposed to go to Bihar's Bhagalpur next on their journey to Nepal. Later, police patrolling at night found both the woman and her husband in a state of disarray on the main road,” Khairwar said.