Journalist Namita Bhandare who writes a popular column on gender issues in the Hindustan Times newspaper told the BBC that contrary to what people say, many “women in India of course swear, it’s not new”.
In many villages of northern Indian, an important wedding ritual involves women from bride’s family singing a medley of expletives while welcoming the groom’s party – a tradition that nobody finds offensive.
So, Bhandare says, describing what was said at Jantar Mantar as culture shock and calling women out for using swear words shows “double standards” because politicians of all hues, including the prime minister, have used slurs against women when it suited them.
In his Independence Day speech in 2022, Modi called on Indians to fight misogyny. His government runs a number of scheme aimed at uplifting women and Modi enjoys tremendous popularity among female voters.
But on many instances, Modi and his party colleagues have been criticised for being disrespectful to women. A number of senior party leaders have been called out for misogynistic comments about women’s clothing. Modi himself has invited criticism for using terms such as “Jersey cow” in a 2004 rally and “50 crore ki girlfriend” [“girlfriend worth 500m rupee”] in another event in 2012.
Such criticism is not confined to the BJP. Many opposition politicians, including those from Gandhi’s Congress party, have also faced similar allegations. A Congress leader in Kerala state recently sparked outrage, external with remarks about using women to make false complaints against political opponents.
“Women are treated so shabbily and it’s so easy to target them. And then when they use profanity, then everyone asks, how can our girls cuss and swear,” says Bhandare.
Social activist Sunil Jalan, who’s been running a Gali Bandh Abhiyan (a campaign aimed at stopping use of cuss words) since 2014, says “we must focus on swearing, not on the gender of who uses them”.
In a survey by his NGO last year, 55% of the more than 70,000 participants from across 28 Indian states and eight federally-administered territories admitted to using foul language.
The question asked was straightforward: how often do you hear or use expletives that target mothers, sisters or daughters?
Their 2025 Gali [expletive] Map of India showed very high prevalence rates in the north – 80% in Delhi, 78% in Punjab and 74% in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states. Most southern states were below 44% and it was between 15% and 18% in the north-east.
Jalan says this is the first time in the country that a dialogue over foul language is taking place, “and hopefully something good will come out of it”.
“It’s a very serious issue. It’s a virus that’s spread through society. Comedy, jokes and films have normalised swearing and it needs to be reined in,” he says.
