I didn’t utter the words ‘sex worker’, says Sindhu Sooryakumar: Where did it go wrong?

“Discussion on ‘Mahishasur Jayanti’ in the newsrooms of Kerala cannot be termed irrelevant,” says Chief Coordinating Editor of Asianet News, Sindhu Sooryakumar. She recently faced the wrath of right wing outfits in Kerala after she moderated a discussion on a topic which resulted in the JNU standoff over the past month.

Last Friday, Sindhu moderated a discussion on whether the celebration of ‘Mahishasur Jayanti’ could be deemed as an act of treason. The discussion drew ire of Hindu fundamentalists, so much so that they accused Sindhu of calling the goddess Durga a ‘sex worker’ and in turn called her a sex worker.

However, based on the footage of the debate, it is clear that it was the BJP state secretary V. V. Rajesh who read out the words from the pamphlets (which he claimed was circulated at J. N. U. earlier).

“I have not said that goddess Durga is a sex worker. It was V. V. Rajesh who read out the words from the pamphlets,” she told Folomojo.

Sindhu said that she had received several ‘threat calls’ since the debate was broadcast on television. While some threatened to hack her to death, some seemed contented hurling unparliamentary abuses at her.

She reaffirmed that the debate highlighted the question on why ‘Mahishasur Jayanti’ cannot not be celebrated when the Indian Constitution grants the right to exercise any religious belief. “I did not moderate a debate that discussed ‘if Durga was a sex worker or not’. I moderated a debate which discussed ‘how is it an act of treason to celebrate Mahishasur Jayanti?’

There are a variety of narrations for religious mythologies such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. There are narrations which claims that Sita is the daughter of Ravana. So people who are not informed will say many stupidities,” she adds.

The controversy has exposed a sect of religious fringe elements from Kerala who were holed up. The discussion surrounding the controversy has exemplified the nasty face of existing right wing fundamentalism. People with right wing allegiance have formed inciteful opinions without even reviewing the footage of the debate.

What’s disturbing is when a person, who evidently has a Punjabi surname, responds to this controversy with an intent to discuss how ‘Virgin Mary’ could have covered up her involvement in prostitution using her ‘virgin theory’ in conceiving Jesus Christ. Again, anyone could masquerade as anybody on social media. This has more of less exposed the growing  reach of religious intolerance and lack of mutual respect.

“This hatred does not originate by itself. It is nurtured and people make it a big deal to make it give an image of sensitive topic. Till some time back, issues like these were not there.

If you see the vintage Malayalam movie ‘Nirmalyam’, a priest character in the movie is spitting on a Hindu deity’s idol. That movie won two national awards. The person who played the role of the priest was a Christian by religion. Then there wasn’t any problems. Now if there is problem surrounding issues like these, then it is solely because it is nurtured,” she goes on to say.

The journalist alleges that it was people affiliated with RSS who hurled abuses at her.

“All of those arrested are connected to B. J. P., R. S. S. and Hindu groups, including Sri Rama Sena,” Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioner G. Sparjan Kumar told The Indian Express.

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