Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor on Wednesday took to Twitter to claim that he had gone to meet wife of former AAP minister and liquor scam accused Manish Sisodia in the hospital.
अभी सीमा भाभी (मनीष जी की पत्नी) से अस्पताल में मिलकर आ रहा हूँ। कल से वो अस्पताल में भर्ती हैं। उन्हें multiple sclerosis बीमारी है। बहुत ही गंदी बीमारी है। उनके अच्छे स्वास्थ्य के लिए भगवान से प्रार्थना करता हूँ।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 26, 2023
While tweeting about his hospital visit, Kejriwal said he met Seema Bhabhi (Manish ji’s wife) in hospital and she has been admitted to hospital from yesterday. “She has multiple sclerosis. It is a dirty illness,” he said and that he prays for her good health.
On the face of it, may feel that it is a regular wish for better health for a woman who is suffering a very painful disease that is very difficult to live with. However, the usage of the word ‘gandi bimari’ (dirty illness) is highly inappropriate. You see, ‘gandi’ (dirty) as a description for any illness gives rise to a lot of social stigma. It creates fear amongst people. And often times the term ‘gandi’ is used to describe illnesses that are sexually transmitted.
Remember those ads about AIDS awareness? How Shabana Azmi went and met patients suffering from AIDS and touched them and informed everyone that AIDS does not spread via touching? It was social stigma because ‘AIDS is gandi bimari’. While in reality, someone can get HIV positive even with a used needle of a blood transfusion. The disease had to be destigmatised so that those who suffer from it can live with dignity.
Similarly, syphilis and other such STDs are often referred to as ‘gandi bimaris’ in the rural areas where there is note enough awareness. On similar lines, calling multiple sclerosis a ‘gandi bimari’ adds one more disease in the list of illnesses that are stigmatised.
What if people start getting prejudiced and discriminate against those who have multiple sclerosis because it is ‘gandi bimari’? Arvind Kejriwal is the chief minister of a state and convenor of a national party. He is an IITian and has cracked the UPSC. He takes immense pride in being well educated. Surely he knows importance of words. He knows how much weight words, especially hurtful ones, could carry.
That he would willingly put Seema Bhabhi in a vulnerable position in her illness and when her husband is in prison under investigation in a corruption scam, says a lot about his own character than those who have ‘gandi bimaris’. This is extremely shameful and as a woman, I condemn such words that could stigmatise Seema Bhabhi. I urge the Delhi Commission for Women to take cognisance and take necessary action against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
