"Women are to be blamed for harassment: MP-Congress Leader"
Hindustan Times:Wed, 24.April.2013.
A Congress leader in Madhya Pradesh has landed himself in a controversy by
making sexist remarks that women invite trouble by looking at men in a
suggestive manner, drawing flak from BJP.
File photo of Satyadev Katare. The former minister said that
'women invite rape' at a Congress rally in Bhind district, Madhya Pradesh.
(Photo courtesy: www.satyadevkatare.com)
"Jab tak mahila tirchi najar se nahi dekhegi, tab tak purush use nahi
chedega" (No man will harass a woman till she looks at him in a suggestive
manner)," Satyadev Katare, a former minister, said at a Congress rally in Bhind
district.
The rally was organised earlier this week by the Congress in Bhind as part of
the party's campaign to regain power in the year-end assembly polls.
Efforts to contact Katare on the issue proved futile.
BJP spokesman and MLA Vishwas Sarang said the statement is highly derogatory
towards women despite the fact that the president of the Congress party is a
woman.
"It reflects the mentality of Congress leaders and specially in the aftermath
of incidents of rape in Delhi," Sarang said.
Rape is an issue which needs to be dealt with tact and sensitivity - but our
leaders may need a crash course in diplomacy. Similar derogatory remarks made by
the prominent ministers dominated the media space and initiated major
discussions over the social media.
President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee stoked a major controversy
by describing women participating in Delhi protests against gangrape of a
student as 'highly dented and painted', triggering angry backlash.
"Those who are coming in the name of students in the rallies, sundori,
sundori mahila (beautiful women), highly dented and painted," Abhijit Mukherjee,
an MP from Jangipur seat which the President had vacated before his election,
told a news channel.
"Giving interviews in TV and showing off their children. I wonder whether
they are students at all," he said, adding, "what's basically happening in Delhi
is something like pink revolution, which has very little connection with ground
realities." "We were also students. This section doesn't appear and behave like
students," Mukherjee said.
Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee had apologised for his remark
that women protesting against rape were "dented-painted" and there was no scope
for action against him, the party said on Friday.
Two days later as the comment drew sharp reactions from different sections of
the country, Mukherjee promptly retracted his statement. Read more...
Hindustantimes.com conducted an online poll asking its viewers "do our
politicians get away with insensitive statements?"
A majority of 85.09% of the respondents agreed saying that the politicians do
get away with insensitive statements.
Nearly, 13.2% of the voters disagreed with the question, whereas, a small
percentage of voters remained undecided.
File photo of Satyadev Katare. The former minister said that
'women invite rape' at a Congress rally in Bhind district, Madhya Pradesh.
(Photo courtesy: www.satyadevkatare.com)
Comments