On Monday evening, Ram Gopal Varma shared a photo of a few women standing in a queue outside a wine shop and wrote, “so much for protecting women against drunk men.” His tweet didn’t go well with netizens, including singer Sona Mohapatra.
Stating that his statement ‘reeks of sexism and misplaced morality’, Sona tweeted, “Dear Mr RGV, time for u to get into the line of people who desperately need a real education.1 that lets u understand why this tweet of yours reeks of sexism & misplaced morality. Women have a right to buy & consume alcohol just like men. No one has a right to be drunk & violent.”
Alongside Sona, several other social users also called out RGV for his statement. While one said, “Here goes the misogynist; so if a woman drinks does that make her eligible for harassment,” another asked, “Mr Varma are you suggesting women who drink should not complain when they face any abuse from men? Sick disgusting logic that can only come from an insecure man.”
Earlier today, RGV replied to Sona, “I meant it for the leaders who falsely presume that only men drink and abuse women in that state.” To which Sona asked, “So are u saying that this picture where a few women are standing in line to buy liquor proves otherwise? How so? Statistics show domestic violence,alcohol abuse to be linked & women hold the short end of the stick across the world. Rarely does the woman drink & thrash her partner.”
Meanwhile, several Bollywood celebrities, including Javed Akhtar and Malaika Arora advised against reopening liquor shops. “Opening liquor shops during the lock down will only bring disastrous results . In any case according to all the surveys nowadays domestic Violence has increased to a large extent .liquor will make these days even more dangerous of for women and children,” wrote Javed Akhtar.