Abhijit Mukherjee did not have any other introduction than as president Pranab Mukherjee’s son and it was in that capacity, he was elected MP from Jangipur in West Bengal. Now, we know him better. In an interview with the ABP Ananda, a Bengali news channel, he tried to discredit the widespread protests in Delhi after the ghastly gangrape, saying that there were no students among the protesters, only “dented and painted” women were holding demonstrations.

The news right now is that he has justified his comments even in the face of a deluge of criticism in the online and electronic media.

His controversial quote, in Bengali, was: “These pretty women, dented and painted, who come for protests are not students. I have seen them speak on television. Usually women of this age are not students.”

As for students among the protestors, he had no better opinion to offer. He said students go to discotheques and then think it is fashionable to hold candles and protests.

Brinda Karat of CPM and Smriti Irani of BJP were among the first to criticise Mukherjee and demand an apology for sexist comments, even as his own sister disagreed with him.

Mukherjee’s self-goal comes four days after fellow party man, Andhra Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana said the gangrape victim should have been more careful.

Clearly, the foot-in-mouth disease is spreading in the Congress. More importantly, it reveals a mindset which is not much different than that of the culprits when it comes to sexist biases. Here are the unspoken assumptions that Mukherjee seems to be harbouring:

“Genuine protesters should not wear makeup. If there’s makeup, the protest is not genuine. If the protest is not genuine, obviously it is politically motivated. In which case, why all the fuss? The crime was just another crime.”

Mere apology will not do, because these words were not mere words. They hurt a nation and Mukherjee should face action. For the start, the action should come from the party – provided it finds the comment condemnable at all.

By the way, when Alka Lamba, formerly of the Congress’s student wing, went to Assam after a mob molested a girl there, wasn’t she “dented and painted” too?