Anna Linda Eden, wife of Hibi Eden, Congress Lok Sabha member from Ernakulam, on Tuesday (October 22) apologised and said her post, which was withdrawn, meant no offence. She added that she meant that one should face all situations with a smile. BJP leader Tom Vadakkan said it would have been appropriate if she had openly apologised to both rape survivors and flood victims.
Kochi: Wife of Congress MP Hibi Eden, Anna Linda apologised for her sensational Facebook post. Her post said, "Fate is like rape if you can't resist it then try to enjoy it."
BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh, K Dileep, condemned the statement. He said, “A woman making such a statement makes it even worse. This has been said without understanding the gravity or the seriousness of what a rape victim goes through and I condemn this. She must apologise for making such an irresponsible statement.”
When the issue stoked controversy, she deleted the post. It was a message that one should face all situations with a smile, she added. In the earlier post, she posted two videos of her family members suffering due to flash floods that hit Ernakulam. In one of the videos, her young child was seen being taken out from the flooded home in a small float, and in another, her husband Eden was seen having ice cream.
In the new post, she said she is sorry for her earlier post and added, “The only reason I decided to put it out was to send a message that when one passes through terrible situation should face it with a smile.”
“For the past one week, my father is in serious condition and is hospitalised and then came the floods and with great difficulty, we managed to smile out of our home, when our home was flooded. Eden was busy with electioneering," wrote Anna.
BJP leader Tom Vadakkan said, “I feel contempt. The language of the FB post doesn't cover the suffering undergone by both rape survivors and flood victims. It would have been better if she added ‘survivors and victims’, while she preached about facing crises with a smile. Not everyone has the advantage of being so well-placed like her.”
Vadakkan further said, “While we condemn the first posting on Facebook. The clarification that followed is more of a cover up exercise. It would have been better if she had apologised to the rape survivors, and flood victims, it is easy to preach from ivory towers, but the trauma that the victims undergo cannot convert into a smile.”
Meanwhile, Anna added that when she was young, great Amitabh Bachchan wrote a similar sentence when his ABCL was passing through tough times. And that sentence of his was a great motivation for me. Even now, I feel solace in what he said.
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