‘Aunty National’ slams critics in Facebook post

In the backdrop of a Twitter spat with Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary and other controversies, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani has slammed her critics and asserted she is not a person who subscribes to the conventional wisdom of not responding to humiliations or provocations.

In a Facebook post, which she signed off as “Aunty National” – an apparent reference to a newspaper’s headline about her, Irani talked about her career and challenges, stressed on the need to speak out one’s mind and hit out at “intellectuals” who called her “illiterate”. The minister talked about how in daily life a woman is taught not to question anyone or respond to a challenge.

“Growing up in a middle class environment (Lutyen’s zone excluded), many girls, who would walk to school/college and back home every day, go to the bazaar to get groceries and adequate sabzi in a given budget, would often be told if accosted by a boy or a bunch of them, don’t look up and keep walking straight.

“But there would be those rebellious kinds (yours truly included) who would question why? Why not respond? Why zip it? The standard answer such a question begets is that it is not worth it. Nuksaan tumhara hoga, ladke ka kuch nahi bigadega (loss will be yours, nothing will happen to the boy),” she said, adding it was the advice she received not just when she was growing up as a middle class girl, but also in politics.