My children started using the term ‘NPC’ a few years ago. It originates from video games, and stands for ‘non-playable-character’, which means that when the game offers you a choice of characters whose identity you can assume in order to play the game, NPCs are not on the list. This is because NPCs are typically side-characters, somebody with a few stock lines and actions. They are there to keep the plot moving, but definitely not key or consequential in any way.
“God, he’s such an NPC,” my son will say when someone strikes him as colourless, or mindless, or has nothing to say for himself. So, why do I get the feeling that many of today’s right-wingers seem to view women the same way—who hold up half the sky, as Mao Zedong said—as NPCs?
As in, you are in the game; you have a few lines and tasks, but you have no room to innovate, manoeuvre or grow into a bigger role. Take our female wrestlers, for example. They are allowed to wrestle and win medals, but heaven forbid they speak up against sexual harassment. Our female MPs, who are allowed to be badass, but if they put up a post asking the prime minister why the US president is claiming credit for the ceasefire with Pakistan, they get a call from J.P. Nadda and promptly delete their posts.
Imaging: Deni Lal
Our war widows—they are allowed to mourn and rant freely on all the television networks, but God forbid they appeal for peace or clarify that they don’t advocate hate! We have a woman as our president and head of state, but unlike say, a Michelle Obama, who owned her identity as a descendent of slaves, Droupadi Murmu has never really addressed any problematic issues like the death of Stan Swamy or the targeting of tribal Christians by right-wing groups. Most recently, we had two lady spokespersons briefing the press on Operation Sindoor—both capable women, but they, too, seemed to be reading from a set, formal script. Compare their demeanour to that of Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, who spoke with so much leadership and swag: “Our job is to hit the target, not count the body bags.”
Why did neither Wing Commander Vyomika Singh or Colonel Sofiya Qureshi feel relaxed and empowered enough to make such swashbuckling statements? Maybe because one of them had to fight a court battle to even earn her permanent commission not so many years ago? In such an environment, it is no wonder that Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, while praising the choice of the two women officers, commented: “The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is important, but optics must translate to reality on the ground. Otherwise it is just hypocrisy.”
It’s also no wonder that this entirely unexceptionable post has got him arrested. What makes the arrest especially ironic is that the offended party is none other than the Haryana State Commission for Women. It is so galling to see the body—which was nowhere on the scene when two Kuki-Zo women were paraded naked in Manipur, or even when Vyomika was fighting her battle for permanent commission in 2019—obediently pushing majoritarian agendas by cracking down on minorities through ‘issues’ like triple talaq and ‘love jihad’ and now this latest ‘violation of women’s modesty’, like a good little girl.
Women are not, and should never be, mere NPCs. That was the point Ali was making. And that’s what got him arrested. Who is really the misogynist here?
editor@theweek.in