Old Tweet haunts retired Colonel Ajai Shukla

Bengaluru: ‘‘Yatra naryastu pujyante, ramnte tatra Devtah’’ (God resides only there, where women are considered worthy of worship) - But, this holy mantra holds no significance for some ‘pseudo-intellectuals’ as they seem to have less regard for women. That’s why the rebel poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhianavi had penned the mesmerizing number ‘Aurat ne janam diya mardon ko…’ in the film Sadhana. “Woman is the destiny of the world, Yet woman is demeaned by destiny; Woman begets incarnations and apostles, Yet woman is the daughter of Satan.”

‘‘Unko yeh shikayat hai ki hum kuch nahin kahte/ Apni toh yeh aadat hai ki hum kuch nahin kahte’’. (He complains that I speak not a word; It’s just a habit of mine that I speak not a word.) But habits of some ‘pseudo-intellectuals’ are totally different from this popular number in the film Adalat. They speak. And that too, loud and clear without sparing a thought! The Indian political class always has its share of loose cannons. But, in this boo boo and maverick brigade Ajai Shukla, a retired Colonel of Indian Army also refuses to be left far behind as his Twitter shenanigan has not only created a furore, but ‘‘has painted the image of women in disarray. Such a public assault on women is disgraceful. It’s nothing but a dilatory demise of sanity.’’

The prevalent saying – ‘‘Old habits die hard and old sin cast long shadows’’ seems to be haunting Ajai Shukla, who is very active on twitter account. He also writes articles on defense policy, production and acquisition for various media organizations. He appears to have mastered the art of making seemingly offhand squirm-inducing comments from time to time. Shukla was at his boorish best when he shot his mouth off ‘‘to disgrace the womanhood’’. On 14 August, 2015, he had tweeted, ‘‘@anoopsachdev1 You seem to be looking really hard for a pimp. Is it for your mother, your sister, or your wife?’’

Taking strong exception to his comment, Rekha Sharma, Chairperson, National Commission for Women, a vocal supporter of the rights of women has hit back on Twitter, ‘‘Disgraceful comment from a person who is supposedly educated. Why drag mother and sister in your arguments or are you showing your real self? Is this what you really are? I don’t know who you are saying this and why but the language is not acceptable at all.’’

One twitterati Debjani has lambasted Shukla, ‘‘Madam @sharmarekha Will @NCWIndia act against this man insulting womanhood in vilest manner? @ambkcsingh You left a TV debate for this man? OMG. In fact @RShivshankar or any media should never call him. He has no place in civil society.’’

Advocating stern action against Shukla, another twitterati AParajit Bharat called out, ‘‘@NCWIndia pls take cognizance of the above tweet.’’ 

‘‘He is a learned person. The question is why did he do so? Is it an attempt to seize the limelight, or to gain political mileage? His occasional comments on issues of national security may lead to diplomatic contretemps. You know, ahead of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Brazil in 2006 for an India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit meeting, Jairam Ramesh, the then minister of state for commerce, called the trilateral development initiative ‘‘a little fictitious’’ in an interview to a Brazilian newspaper. Ramesh felt he was being kept in the background by his boss, the then commerce minister, Kamal Nath,’’ said a political science student of DU, unwilling to be named.