Gender gap

Even while Karnataka CM B S Yeddyurappa was sending mixed signals by first arresting members of the Sri Rama Sene who assaulted women in a Mangalore pub and then stating that ���We will not allow pub culture���, his daughter Umadevi took an unequivocal stand.

Umadevi, who runs a Bangalore BPO, told a national newspaper, ���It���s for women to decide if they would like to visit pubs or any other public place, and the government, politicians or outfits like the Sri Rama Sene cannot restrict their movements.

If she is an adult, it���s for her to take a call on whether to go to a pub or not. If she is not an adult, the issue is essentially between the child and her parents.��� While stating that she did not visit pubs, she added that her two sisters ���by and large��� agreed with her on the question of individual choice.

Even as Union minister for women and child welfare Renuka Chowdhury was describing the Mangalore assault as Talibanisation in a BJP-ruled state, there were indications that the problem was not confined to one party.

Four days after the incident, Rajasthan���s Congress CM Ashok Gehlot condemned ���pub culture��� claiming it had been encouraged by his BJP predecessor. ���The excise policy of the BJP, based on the premise of promoting pub culture and wine culture, is being reversed.

Because of the liquor culture, over 6,000 cases of rape were reported in the state when the BJP was in power.��� Gehlot even spoke against public display of affection: ���An onlooker may enjoy watching young boys and girls moving around arm-in-arm but it is not the culture of Rajasthan.��� He later clarified his statement had nothing to do with the Mangalore incident which he condemned.

Gehlot���s daughter Sonia has so far not spoken out against her father���s linking of the pub-mall culture with crimes against women. Neither has the redoubtable Renuka Chowdhury!