From Pornhub to Ashutosh’s Mahatma Gandhi analogy: 5 takeaways from Sandeep Kumar’s sex scandal

At this moment, AAP MLAs feel very much like expendable characters in a B-grade horror flick who are killed off to set the tone. It’s still up in the air whether it’s the Delhi police/Centre’s alacrity to take them down (as AK claims almost every day) or the party’s selection of rotten candidates but it feels like AAP picked guys from the lower rungs in hell.  The latest to bite the dust is Sandeep Kumar whose sex tape made its way to Arvind Kejriwal and the media, and the party removed him from the cabinet before you could say ‘Pornhub’!

Here are five takeaways from the controversy:

Ashu’s Gandhi-Nehru analogy

The most bizarre fall-out of the Sandeep Kumar sex scandal is Ashutosh’s defence of the man in a completely nonsensical piece. The resident Trotsky now that Yogendra Yadav has been booted out, Ashutosh appeared to give an intelligent spin to Sandeep's predicament. In an article titled 'The Sex Was Consensual, Private Act. Why AAP Punished Its Man', the former journalist never explains why AAP punished its man but goes on to blame the media for covering the event, claiming it exposed the "hypocrisy of the society and hollowness of the media", even though there’s not a single world about what he feels about Arvind Kejriwal and AAP sacking Sandeep Kumar.

But he doesn’t stop at that, he goes on to bash those who don’t have sex claiming that virginity for the younger generation is a sign of "being left behind in the social race", and the person is "neither hot, nor cool, just unwanted, undesired". 

But he didn’t stop that, going on to give examples of the supposed romantic liaisons of Pandit Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and even China’s Chairman Mao.

Now he’s in a spot of bother for writing: “History is also witness to the fact that top leaders of the Congress in 1910s were worried about Gandhiji's relationship with Sarla Chaudhary, who was distantly related to Rabindra Nath Tagore. Gandhi Ji had confessed that Sarla was his spiritual wife. Kasturba Gandhi was very disturbed. C Rajagopalchari and other senior leaders of the party had to intervene. They persuaded, pressured, cajoled Gandhi-ji to leave Sarla. Gandhiji in his later days slept naked with his two nieces to experiment with celibacy. Pandit Nehru had told him not to do so as the country would rise against him but Gandhi-ji did not budge.”

Claiming that these leaders were lucky not to be born in the age of television, Ashutosh’s column is a remarkable example that English words when randomly put together don’t always make sense.

We don’t know what’s the most bizarre thing here— blaming the media when it’s AAP that has thrown Sandeep under the bus without even an enquiry or comparing him to some of the greatest leaders we’ve had in this country. 

Update: The woman seen in the video has filed a complaint against Kumar saying he gave her a drink after which she lost consciousness. 

Kejriwal and AAP’s fluctuation morality

Sandeep Kumar’s suspension for a sex act presents us with a dilemma in trying to understand the direction of AAP’s fluctuating moral compass. The party seems bereft of any particular ideology. They support freedom of speech at JNU and yet swiftly disassociate themselves the overly-apologetic Vishal Dadlani over his comments about naked Jain monk Tarun Sagar. They back Bhagwant Mann who incites violence against the press and yet throw out the likes of Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. 

Here’s the AAP MLA blacklist including people who have been accused of rape, molestation, domestic abuse, land grabbing and more:

— Sharad Chauhan: Arrested for abetting suicide. The victim her family and a media channel that Arvind Kejriwal asked her to compromise.
— Naresh Yadav: Arrested on charges of desecrating the Koran charged under sections IPC 109, 153 A and 295.
— Amanutallah Khan: Arrested on charges of intimidating a woman with rape and murder.
— Somnath Bharti: Arrested on charges of domestic violence and even went absconding from the cops before surrendering.
— Dinesh Mohaniya: Arrested on charges of molestation and sexual harassment, was memorably picked up during a press conference for AK to shout 'Emergency'.
— Jitendra Singh Tomar: Former law minister was arrested for a fake degree, suspended by the party.
— Prakash Jarwal: Arrested on charges of molesting a woman, earlier arrested for slapping a Delhi Jal Board employee.
— Commando Surinder Singh: Arrested for going 'commando' on an NDMC employee, also arrested for fake degree.
— Manoj Kumar: Arrested in land-grabbing case, also accused of domestic abuse.
— Akhilesh Tripathi: Arrested in an alleged rioting case, was acquitted by court.
— Mahendra Yadav: Arrested for allegedly rioting and assaulting a public servant.
— Jagdeep Singh: Arrested for allegedly assaulting an employee of a waste management company.

What’s absolutely fascinating is that among all of them, the party has backed those charged with serious allegations of rape, molestation, land-grabbing and domestic violence but the only one suspended from the aforementioned list is Jitendra Tomar (fake degree). This really leads us to question what these ‘core values’ of AAP are that Arvind Kejriwal claims Sandeep Kumar betrayed. Or is it just code for ‘whatever the voters hold dear’? Perhaps, we should be grateful Kejriwal hasn't blamed PM Modi for the sex tape yet. 

Sandeep Kumar’s romantic messages

Before he became known for his sex-tape, Sandeep Kumar used to be in the news for his saccharine, bordering on nauseating comments about loving and respecting his wife. His devoutness towards wife included touching her feet every day. Kumar claimed that he overcame a tough childhood and opposition from all quarters to get married to her because she lived in Defence Colony and his father was a subedar. In a statement that now seems ironic, he had also told Indian Express: “I never thought Ritu and I were different from each other. It was like getting married to myself. I had told her ‘Aishwarya Rai kyoon na aa jaye, shaadi to main aap hi se karunga (Aishwarya Rai may come, but I will get married to you alone)’.” To be fair, he was talking about marriage and not sex so probably we shouldn’t judge him too harshly.

Playing the Dalit card

Even as Sandeep Kumar was being nailed for the sex tape, the former AAP man tried to get out of it by playing the Dalit card. Kumar's incredulous claim was that he was being targeted for installing an Ambedkar statue outside his house. He told ANI: “Even ABP says they can't vouch for the authenticity of tape. It is a media trial. I am from Valmiki community, that's why this plot, which was hatched ever since I installed Dr. Ambedkar's statue. It is because I am poor and Dalit. Like Eklavya, I was pulled down. When people from our community rise, some plot is hatched to destroy us.” He added, "I am paying the price of being a Dalit. I am not in that video. An investigation must be done about the video." Adding the Dalit card usually gives a different angle to every story but it’s unlikely that evoking Eklavya and Ambedkar is going to help Kumar here.

Pornhub comes to the party

In another first, porn giant Pornhub came to the party. A few days ago, Twitter was abuzz with a case where a journalist tagged a Twitter user’s employer. When Sandeep Kumar’s news broke, Twitter user Trendulkar tagged (jokingly, one assumes) Pornhub’s Twitter account. Lo and behold, Pornhub’s social media executive sent a loving shoutout to Kumar in his time of trouble with the message: “We love all our employees including Sandeep Kumar!”

While one has to tip one’s hat to Pornhub, their interest in India shouldn’t be surprising considering Indians are fourth overall when it comes to visiting the website.

Tagging Sandeep Kumar's employers on twitter @Pornhub .

— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) August 31, 2016

We love all of our employees, including @SandeepKumar

— Pornhub ARIA (@Pornhub) August 31, 2016

Alas, Sandeep Kumar’s own party wasn’t as understanding as he became the second MLA to be suspended from the party. All in all, Sandeep Kumar's sex escapade became the latest drama to embroil AAP as a party that started out with the promise of a revolution but looks more and more like the personal fiefdom of one man.