After Tapas Pal’s rape and murder threats to CPI (M) supporters – he apologised later, which was equally condemned – another leader in Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress has triggered controversy by his remark that as “long as the world exists, rape will be there.”

According to a report, TMC MLA Dipak Haldar at a meeting in Diamond Harbour, 24 Parganas South district, said, “Rapes were committed earlier, rapes are being committed now. As long as the world exists, rape will be there.”

Mr Haldar, your psyche is beyond my comprehension. It’s like uttering a truism; like saying hens lay eggs and they will always continue laying them. You make ‘rape’ sound like a universal truth or something which is rather trivial. Oh! Wait a minute; I thought we were all working towards shunning the rape culture but your comments make me feel sick, just as those of your colleague Tapas Pal’s.

And, when elected political representatives like yourself come out in the open and make remarks as glorious as yours, my faith in the functioning of affairs reduces even more.  

Haldar further went on to describe rape as a “social disease”. He said, “We do not support rape. It is not possible for chief minister Mamata Banerjee alone to solve this problem”. 

But Mr Haldar, we know that Didi alone can’t solve the problem, what you need to know is that it is a collective effort. The more the people are sensitized about it, the better would it be for our society.

I am not a preacher, Mr Haldar, but for starters our job is to empower women and probably then look at changing the mindset of men, which is not easy. But, empowering women is important, so that they’re not perceived as being weak. There are also many ways to do that, you know. First is perhaps by protecting them through the law.

But the fact remains when public representatives like you are not restrained in their expressions, the world doesn’t seem like a safe place to live in.