On Monday (November 29), ABP News journalist Rubika Liyaquat lashed out at farmer leader Dharmendra Malik for making sexist remarks to mock the Modi government’s decision to roll back the farm laws. Malik is the national media in-charge of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU).
During the debate, panellist Dharmendra Malik took potshots at the BJP government for giving in to the demands of the farmer protestors. In order to do so, he compared the rollback to Vidhwa Vilap (the wail of a widow). Rubika Liyaquat, the moderator of the debate, took objection to the use of misogynist language by Malik. She said, “What do you mean by Vidhwa Vilap? I have a problem with this word. This is not your Khap Panchayat. This is my show, where things go as per my directions.”
At that point, a disgruntled Malik resorted to abusive behaviour and threw his mic away to intimidate Rubika Liyaquat. “Disrespectful behaviour will not be tolerated. Stay in your limits. Do you think you can become a hero of farmer protests by abusing women,” she further inquired. The ABP journalist added, “Any woman will have an issue with the use of the word, ‘Vidhwa Vilap’. I will object to it 1000 times, if necessary. Don’t know how to respect woman and will sit here and say that they want to talk to Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister.”
“Several women are supporting you in your protests. And you have the audacity to sit here and use words such as ‘Vidhwa Vilap’. You don’t have respect for anything. Good to see that you have left or else I would have kicked you out,” she concluded.
BKU leader justifies his sexist remark, hails Khap Panchayat
After having left the show voluntarily, Dharmendra Malik took to Twitter to slander Rubika Liyaquat. In an attempt to justify his sexist remark stigmatising widows, he resorted to judging Rubika’s journalistic ethics. He claimed that Rubika Liyaquat would not have had to resort to gender identity politics if she had respected the fourth pillar of democracy (aka press). “When your conscience will awaken, you will have no place to hide your face. The Khap Panchayat, you are criticising, is replete with instances of women safety and respect.”
Far from condemning sexist and unfair terms like ‘Vidhwa Vilaap’, the President of All India Professionals’ Congress (Haryana unit) Vijay Dhillon was seen supporting the abusive behaviour of Dharmendra Malik. “I have seen many like you”, Dhillon repeated Malik’s remarks that were directed at Rubika Liyaquat.
Rubika Liyaquat has often been the target of Islamists and misogynist men. Last year, she was criticised by Islamists for wishing Eid in a yellow dress. In May 2019, Islamists targeted Ms Liyaquat for wearing make-up, which they claimed was against Islam.
Many so-called ‘farmer leaders’ and Congress loyalists have also been opposing Liyaquat because, in an interview, she had exposed how BKU leader Rakesh Tikait cannot even point out specific sections of the farm laws that he claimed were problematic. Rattled with her questions, Tikait had resorted to ad hominem attacks against the ABP News journalist.