Salman Khan may have regretted his remarks in the next breath after uttering his “rape” analogy, or not. His father, Salim Khan, certainly did not hesitate to issue an apology on behalf of his routinely errant superstar son. But regardless of how Salman chooses to close this episode, the storm over the analogy revives the debate on whether India needs a more publicly mediated standard on language. In the publicity-driven media interaction on Saturday on his latest film, Sultan , Mr. Khan was trying to convey just how strenuous his training schedule was. He plays a professional wrestler in the film, and explained the physical battering thus: “When I used to walk out of that ring, it used to be like a raped woman walking out.” The comment has been interpreted, variously, as evidence of the white noise of patriarchy, his insensitivity, and misogyny. Social media has been preoccupied, prominent activists have condemned Mr. Khan, and the National Commission for Women has asked for an apology. There has also been the counter-argument that our celebrity-obsessed culture is making too much of a possibly stray remark, about making the distinction between words and action, and about exploiting a famous person to spin a story longer than it merits. While there is a case that too much political correctness can be dangerous and limit free speech, in a modern society some metaphors are not fine. The “rape” reference is one of them.
This is not the first time a rape reference has caused outrage. Seven years ago, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, then the president of the Congress’s Uttar Pradesh unit, found herself arrested for one such remark. Criticising the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to give only Rs.25,000 to rape victims, she exhorted the women to throw the money at the then Chief Minister, Mayawati, and tell her, “If you get raped, I’ll give you one crore [rupees].” Ms. Bahuguna subsequently apologised, and also pleaded that her meaning not be misconstrued since, as a woman, she was only speaking in support of victims. Then, as now, the outrage over the use of the word “rape”, whether to casually refer to a physical toll or to imagine the crime being visited upon somebody, was justified. There is not much to be gained by only training all guns on the person misusing the word. It is to articulate in the public sphere the importance of dispensing with old and inappropriate usages that are suggestive of anything other than what rape really is: a particularly abominable criminal act.
