There is a popular feminist theory – sob, ‘cry rape’ when you are in trouble. Create something new, something extraordinary, imagine rape either child abuse, rape or gang rape – people mostly will believe your story. If they don’t, call them chauvinists, pigs, morons, rapists…etc.

Yeah, I know I am already branded as one because I did not believe her story. Rather I think it is merely a publicity stunt by her. Here are the reasons –

1. Barkha Dutt told her child sexual abuse story in her latest book after 36 years of the crime. She is not a shy or fearful woman. One who could divorce two times (I don’t care about her personal life though) can’t be taken as a meek or a shy person at all. If one has seen her debates and the way Barkha silences men, one will easily understand her male hating attitude (and I am sorry if I mix that with her multiple divorces) but one does not need any intelligence to understand that Barkha couldn’t have been silent for so long on her own childhood abuse.
2. The second incident was in her college. A person Barkha dated had abused her and lawyers intimidated her against going to court. Oh, what a bullshit story! In India, violence against women is already taken seriously. If Barkha was really hit, she had a thousand ways to get justice. Also, her attitude in open forums, tell us Barkha is not the one who is ever afraid of shouting her mind out and she herself could be violent as well. Then why she didn’t go ahead with her plans to teach that man a lesson? Something not quite right here. The story she wrote about violence against the woman could actually be violence by the woman.
3. Incidentally, these stories were written in her latest book. So how many ways you know to popularize a book? Well, learn this trick from her. Barkha got an international platform to popularize her book so she did. All global and viral media is talking about her stories and everyone wants to know more about it. Either they want to criticize her or they want to sympathize/empathize with her. They only have one option – read her book. So quick, free and easy method to gain publicity. Anyways people are not reading books these days. They need some masala to even buy it.
4. While elaborating why she broke her silence after so many years, Barkha told that while she believed women should come out and report sexual violence, she had to become a leader and show the way to them. We understand that very well, but don’t understand why she needed so many years and an international forum to show the violence against her when she had already attended other international forums earlier and she had been very vocal about these issues always. So what changed? Oh yes, Barkha didn’t publish the book earlier. We understand.
5. The recent time is very much against her. Indians know her as an anti-national more than anything else. Her intention to shame India and her culture in every possible way is also well known. An image building was necessary. Nothing else works better for a woman rather than bringing in some sob stories. When feminist mothers can imagine rape of their 28-day old babies in India and when mainstream media publishes and makes that a confirmed rape based on such stories, how could Barkha be different. After all, she comes from the same NDTV and media background that knows how to popularize any crap.
6. Barkha didn’t publish any names. Both the incidents she narrated are so vague. One incident in childhood with one relative. Another one, a fling in her college days. She does not have guts to take those names because those incidents might be completely made up stories. People still believe such stories because the finger is not at them. Let her publicize the names and fight it out in courts if she is telling the truth why telling stories to outside world when we don’t have any check on the veracity. She is only trying to create a sensation around her recent book and not on child sexual abuse. Because in terms of child sexual abuse a WCD survey showed male children are abused more than female children, so if Barkha wanted to bring that perspective, she is at a loss too.
7. The fact that lawyers told her that the case would take 20/25 years, could have been correct because her case lacked substance. Because they could have realized that she could have done the wrong in the college incident and actually she was at fault. Who knows? It is time that she published the names of the lawyers who suggested her the same. Hehe.., I know she can’t do that because the incident could be a fictitious story. I am also interested to know which criminal cases in India ran for 20/25 years. Yeah, I am really insane because I don’t believe such sexual harassment cases run for so long if they are based on facts.
8. We have seen both Jasleen Kaur and Rohtak Sister cases. We have seen how Barkha and her gang made them Bravehearts, idols for women. We have also seen how they became silent after those criminals were exposed. All in the name of being women. When these criminals become victims for her, we know what she is talking about in her own story.

The same analogy can also be drawn for complainants of #MeToo cases. All of them are very vocal about social situations. They are educated and come from the privileged strata of society. So, when they start shouting about their childhood abuse after 10/15/20 years, they don’t generate any sympathy for their tears. It becomes almost impossible to believe their stories. Some of the stories like the one told by Tanushree Dutta is already debunked. We all understand that all liar junkies come forward with fake stories for instant publicity.

We can only tell these women and Barkha that “(dear) Barkha, please don’t create so much drama that people start being insensitive towards the pain of those women who had suffered these in reality”.

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