Mahua Moitra Speech Row: Stop Telling Women To Always "Speak With Love"

When Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra of the Trinamool Congress was speaking her allotted time at the Lok Sabha on pegasus, communal speeches, amongst others on Thursday, her speech was cut short. Not because she threw a chair or spoke seditiously comments, but for her angry tone.

The Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Rama Devi interrupted Moitra mid-sentence and asked her to "speak with love" and "not to get so angry." When Moitra was asked by the press standing outside about her speech in the session, she said that she only had a paragraph left about the opposition coming together when she was cut off.

Later Moitra took to Twitter and wrote, "And who is Chair to interrupt me (taking up MY valuable time) to lecture me on whether I should speak with gussa (anger) or pyar (love)? None of your business Madam. You can only correct me on rules. You are NOT the moral science teacher of LS."

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Earlier she had taken to Twitter to notify her followers of her upcoming speech at the parliament. She wrote, "Am speaking this evening in Lok Sabha on President's Address. Just wanted to give early heads up to @BJP to get the heckler team ready & read up on imaginary points of order. Drink some gaumutra shots too."

In her speech against the Narendra Modi-led government, Moitra said, "They want to alter history, they are fearful of the future and they mistrust the present...You fear a future India which is comfortable in its own skin, which is comfortable with conflicting realities...You are not content with just the vote, you want to get inside our heads, inside our homes, to tell us what to eat, what to wear, who to love. But your fear alone cannot keep the future at hay."

This is how women are often policed by society in the name of reinforcing "appropriate" behaviour. The volume of their voice and the strength of it simply scares some.

Mahua Moitra parliament speech row: we don't owe anyone to "speak with love"

In this case, Moitra was talking to the ruling party from the seat of the opposition. As an opposition, it is her job to point out the gaps and bring people's issues to the Parliament. As a public representative, her job is to ensure that the problems faced by people there are addressed in the Lok Sabha. What isn't part of her job profile is a constant check to moderate her voice and tonality when speaking in her allotted time. Raising one's voice does not qualify as anger, besides, so what if she was angry, why cannot she be?

Women who are independent and have a strong opinion are often considered as "always so angry" types. This happened to Moitra at her workplace, but it is relatable to so many other working and non-working women. How often have we been cut off when speaking the truth? How often have we been told to take a sip of water and cool down in between a heated discussion?

Society expects women to be benevolent at the cost of their self esteem. Women are seen to be docile, to be soft-spoken, to know their limits. When they take a step up and raise their voice, they are called out for being "angry" for "shouting" their words, for losing their composure. But it is high time to change this social perception.

Women do not owe it to others to be loving in their demeanour and tone all the time. We have every right to put across our point steeped in passion or anger if we want to. So stop judging women for raising their voice, for claiming their space in the world, for standing up for what they believe is their right, their duty.

(Views expressed are the author's own)