After 'women move back' backlash, ICAI orders probe, says it's 'deeply perturbed'

KOLKATA: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has started an internal probe to find out why women in the audience were asked to move back five rows at a recent event in the city just before chief guest Swami Gyanvatsalya from the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir was invited to the dais.
The ICAI event, an international conference of CA students, was organised here on June 22.A video went viral a few days after that, which showed the presenter - also an ICAI member - saying: "No ladies, no girls, no girl volunteers in sight, folks! Hustle up, he's on his way!" The video fuelled a storm on social media, with many cringing and expressing disgust at the overt sexism and misogyny. Several ICAI members, too, expressed their "extreme discomfort" at the turn of events on the dais.
Neither ICAI nor the order officially reacted to the criticism till Monday, which was also National CA Day, when TOI got in touch with both.
ICAI president Ranjit K Agarwal admitted that the organisation was "deeply perturbed" by the incident. "The reasons behind the occurrence remain unclear but the ICAI has initiated a thorough investigation into the matter," he said, adding that the institute was committed to "implementing remedial measures to prevent such incidents in future".
"The ICAI has 4 lakh CAs and every third member is a woman. Our student base of 9 lakh, too, has a significant proportion of female students," he said, explaining that this "demographic composition" underscored ICAI's "dedication to empowering women". Such an "unfortunate incident" had never happened in the institute's 75-year history, he stressed.
Agarwal's hand-wringing was in no small way prompted by the debate within the CA community in Kolkata and beyond.

'Incident a blot on institute's history'
Several former and serving seniors of ICAI, who TOI spoke to, came out strongly against what transpired on the dais. "We cannot be sure about what prompted the presenter's bizarre request but we are aghast that there was no protest from our office-bearers present at the event," one ICAI member said. An ex-national president of the institute was another who vehemently denounced what happened, calling "the unprecedented incident a blot on institute's history".
The video left many outside the institute, too, bitter and disbelieving. West Bengal Commission for Women chairperson Leena Gangopadhyay found it "alarming" that no one from the ICAI present there found it necessary to protest.
Feminist-activist Piya Chakraborty spoke of the "deeply entrenched misogyny and patriarchy that pervade our society". "Blatant discrimination, especially when expressed overtly, is not only reprehensible but also criminal in nature. It is inconceivable that anyone could utter such statements and get away unscathed," she said.
No senior BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir monk commented on the incident. But a senior member of the order and a CA herself, Twinkle Chhapia, issued a statement, admitting that "the manner of the announcement prior to the speaker's arrival was unfortunate" and had "disturbed many", including herself. "It, however, does not reflect the ethos and the sentiments of the speaker," she added, referring to Swami Gyanvatsalya's address. "Some sanyasis and priests follow their special spiritual discipline in Hinduism and many other spiritual traditions of the world. It does not mean that they disrespect or discriminate against women," she added.