The biggest name to be affected after the Cabinet reshuffle was Smriti Irani who was moved from the high profile HRD Ministry to prima-facie low-key Textile Ministry. Although on the face of it she might be the big loser, there could be some other factors which could result in her having the last laugh, as noted here. But for now, a section of people were seen celebrating her demotion. There maybe nothing wrong in celebrating the perceived downfall of an opponent or a person you dislike, but the standard of attacks was crass and coarse.
The first big indication of the treatment meted out by the media was of course the reporting. While Smriti Irani was “dropped”, Jayant Sinha was reported to have been “shifted”, the use of words indicating the message which was being conveyed:
#BREAKING Smriti Irani dropped from HRD ministry to Textile ministry #CabinetReshuffle
— IndiaTodayFLASH (@IndiaTodayFLASH) July 5, 2016
#BREAKING Jayant Sinha shifted from MoS Finance to MoS Civil Aviation #CabinetReshuffle
— IndiaTodayFLASH (@IndiaTodayFLASH) July 5, 2016
The Telegraph who seems to have a problem with Smriti Irani for a long time, chose a very crass and sexist front page to mock Smriti Irani:
Who got what and why in #Modi ministry. #CabinetReshuffle https://t.co/QTJXiifBX1 pic.twitter.com/ozugDc8ivU
— The Telegraph (@ttindia) July 6, 2016
Many expressed their anger at this very poor below the belt attack:
Editor @ttindia proudly RTs praise of an outright crassly sexist headline. #IndianGliberals pic.twitter.com/LJ0i6M1d0m
— Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) July 6, 2016
This is not even tabloidish. This is cheap and below the belt. https://t.co/2gw8FsKmgb
— Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) July 6, 2016
Journalist Shekhar Gupta though chose to defend the sexist cartoon:
Thus @ttindia P1 not sexist. Wicked pun but tells the story. Vicious but that’s how the minister also plays the game pic.twitter.com/XnOyE2Mlwh
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) July 6, 2016
Sagarika Ghose even went on to mock a case of voyeurism filed by Irani against FabIndia when she had found that a camera in the store was directed towards the ladies changing room:
That’s true too! Hope @smritiirani doesn’t target FabIndia again tho..:( https://t.co/zgma5PYVJy
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) July 5, 2016
Yes, when you have a chance to attack a Right Wing politician, feminism goes for a toss and even a case of voyeurism becomes “targetting of FabIndia”. There was more unabated bile when columnist for Economic Times, Rajyasree was also panned online for her cheap sexist remarks.
This blouse has been made mandatory for all women to wear, by decree of our new textile minister Smriti Irani. pic.twitter.com/qffihnqj77
— Brown Sahiba (@Rajyasree) July 5, 2016
Embedded “liberal” patriarchy must reduce a woman minister to jokes about blouses.https://t.co/nhrTqhokLc@Rajyasree
— Sankrant Sanu सानु (@sankrant) July 5, 2016
Another classy specimen of Indian feminism.
Aren’t they wonderful? https://t.co/cOneENqxE5— IndiaSpeaks (@IndiaSpeaksPR) July 6, 2016
She had earlier indulged in body shaming Smriti Irani when she had complained about the FabIndia voyeurism incident, so this latest outburst could be called expected:
This is not first time @Rajyasree indulged in body shaming of Smriti Irani. Look at her past tweets on her !!!! pic.twitter.com/sEknFelktk
— Dhaval Patel (@dhaval241086) July 5, 2016
Failed Bollywood starlet Bhairavi Goswami also jumped in, raking up the past of a person who moved up the ladder of society through hard work and not through skin-show like Goswmai herself:
Smriti Irani started her career as salesgirl at Mc Donald’s. She is bk to sales of kapda. She wl start wth Modi printed saris
— Bhairavi Goswami (@bhairavigoswami) July 5, 2016
When the path was shown by media houses, media personalities and celebs, how can trolls be far away. A hashtag #ByeByeSmriti was trending which was soon used by Congress social media team members to pass cheap comments:
#ByeByeSmriti
Aunty’s new policy: Every female to wear saree 😉 pic.twitter.com/IfBSC02HSA— Sachin Chahal IYC (@Sachin_IYC) July 6, 2016
A bright Future of textile industry
With #स्मृति aunty#ByeByeSmritipic.twitter.com/En0ZDcT2XT— raman_ਸਿੰਘ (@2raman) July 6, 2016
