'Women Are Exploited In All Political Parties'

'While some women allow themselves to be exploited so that they can climb up the ladder, there are many voiceless and silent people who get exploited by men in powerful positions.'

The Justice Hema Committee report on exploitation of women in the Malayalam film industry has opened a pandora of boxes.

With women working in other fields too coming out with unpleasant truths, it has shaken Kerala society.

The result of the expose is either denial or attack on the woman who made the allegation.

That is what happened to senior Congress leader Simmy Rosebell John.

She has been with the Congress for four decades but when she told the world that women are exploited in politics too, her voice was shut down by expelling her from the party.

"A woman occupying the position of a city mayor once told me that she was asked to vacate the post for a woman who was ready to be exploited," Simmy Rosebell John tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.

Was the Justice Hema Committee report on the situation of women in the Malayalam film industry the reason behind you saying that a casting couch exists in the Congress party too?

Yes, it is definitely the reason.

When I started my career in politics, the situation was different. The wives of many senior Congress leaders were always there to protect and take care of us.

I was in the Congress district council when K Karunakaran was the leader. The person who took care of our food, accommodation, etc when we had to come to Trivandrum was his wife, Kalyanikutty Amma. Then, there was his daughter Padmaja also.

Oommen Chandy Sir's wife, Ramesh Chennithala's wife etc were very close to women party workers and willing to look after us. So all of us women felt safe in those days.

The politics of yore were not very expensive. On the other hand, if a leader or a party worker has to come for a meeting in Trivandrum these days, she will have to spend at least Rs 7,000 from her hand.

Those who cannot afford this try to get help from the district leaders. That is when they get exploited.

Let me not deny the fact that there are women who use this as an opportunity to climb up the ladder.

Those with self-respect take a back seat, and they will never achieve anything in their political life.

But there are men who try to exploit such women, but these women choose to remain silent as they have a family back home and a reputation to protect.

I know many such women and many have narrated their bad experiences to me. This is the bitter truth.

Did you personally have such bad experience?

My financial background was different as I come from an above middle class family. My father was an engineer. I had a car with a driver to move around.

Thanks to A K Antony sir, I became an LIC agent and was a crorepati agent three times. So, I was never short of cash.

I had three times more than my father's income at a very young age itself.

When you are financially independent, you feel more confident.

That's why I could buy a flight ticket to go to Delhi to meet Soniaji. In fact, she was the person who named my son.

Your profile picture on WhatsApp is one with Rajiv Gandhi. Do you think there is a lot of difference in the Congress party of those days, and today especially in the attitude of male leaders?

Of course. There is no doubt about that.

What happens today is women are being exploited in the party. While some allow themselves to be exploited so that they can climb up the ladder, there are many voiceless and silent people who get exploited by men in powerful positions.

Those who do not let themselves being exploited or those who resist the advances are sidelined in the party.

They do not get any important posts in the party, they do not get to compete in local body elections.

This is the way the male leaders take revenge on those who disapprove of their exploitation.

If those women who are already occupying some top position avoid being exploited by these leaders, they do not get the same position again next time.

In fact, a woman occupying the position of a city mayor once told me that she was asked to vacate the post for the woman who was ready to be exploited.

She also confided in me that some MPs misbehaved with her.

The fact is most of these women are not ready to come out and talk about their bad experiences. In fact, this person told me that her husband was against her naming the MPs.

If this is the experience of a woman occupying the position as a mayor, what will it be for other women?

The party took the decision to expel you...

The tragedy is that there are some women leaders who complained about me that I was tarnishing the image of women. These are the women who willingly get exploited to go up.

Otherwise, how do you explain the rapid growth of some individuals who have just joined the party but got very high positions?

But we are not supposed to question such arbitrary decisions.

The Kerala Congress is totally a male dominated party. Women have no voice in this party; men take all decisions and women are expected to obey them like puppets.

They did not give a damn about my 38 years of political career. They just threw me out.

Do you think this is confined to Kerala alone, or does this exist all over India?

No doubt about it, it is there everywhere.

In other parties too?

I am sure exploitation of women is there in all political parties, and all over India.

Did the expulsion come as a shock to you?

As I have been sidelined, I decided to speak the truth. There is no point remaining silent in such a situation.

Did you think a lot before deciding to speak?

Actually, I didn't think much about it. I feel God made me talk.

After the Justice Hema Committee report was made public, I thought if at least one woman did not react to what was happening in Kerala politics, I would be doing injustice to my long political career and also other women.

When I very well knew the reality, as many women had narrated their experiences to me, I thought it was my duty to tell the truth.

Those women chose not to say that a particular male leader tried to sexually molest them as they had to think of their families.

Now that what you said is being discussed all over India, did you get any response from the party's central leadership?

Nothing. When a television channel tried to get a response from (Congress Secretary-Organisation) K C Venugopal, he refused to roll down his car window.

The BJP asked why you didn't speak about this to Priyanka Gandhi, a woman...

For that, Priyanka Gandhi should give me an appointment...

Like the Justice Hema committee report on Malayalam cinema, there should be a report on what happens in politics too.

I want a change in the party, I want women to be treated respectfully. I want opportunities for women to grow in the party.

What should I do now when the party I had dedicated my life to for almost 40 years, threw me out?

My friends ask me why I should hang on when the party doesn't want me. I haven't decided what I should do next.

The only message I want to give is that change has to come in politics too.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com