7:00 AM, Monday Jul 14, 2014
Government cannot protect all women in U.P.: Urvashi Sharma
Jul 14, 2014 - Amita Verma |
It is now UP minister Abhishek Misra who is in the dock for making "insensitive" remarks on safety of women. "We cannot deploy constable behind every woman in the state because this is practically impossible, he said on the sidelines of a seminar on Saturday evening when asked about the measures taken by the UP government to curb rising crimes against women in the state. He further went on to say that there is no mechanism to keep a tab on men venturing out at night. "How can we keep a check on where does a husband goes at night, leave alone woman?," he asked. The minister's remarks have led to outrage among social activists and women's organisation who are now demanding his dismissal. "His statement is highly objectionable and makes it clear that state government is not able to protect women's rights what to say of women's empowerment and gender equality in the state. I am shocked that people like Ms Kiran Bedi were present but did not object," said Urvashi Sharma, an RTI activist.
Abhishek Misra, a Ph.D from University of Cambridge, was a faculty member of IIM Ahmedabad before he plunged into politics. He is a first-time MLA and is known for his proximity to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that the minister's statement finally confirmed that the Akhilesh government has admitted its inability to protect women.
Incidentally, several SP leaders, before Mr Misra, have made some rather disparaging and insensitive remarks on women.
SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav was quoted as having said during elections that rapists should not be hanged. "Boys do make mistakes, but they cannot be hanged for that," he had said at a rally.
Another SP leader Abu Azmi had said that any woman who has sex outside marriage should be hanged, including rape victims.
Prof Ram Gopal Yadav said that in many places, when the relationship between girls and boys come out in open, it is termed as rape.
No comments:
Post a Comment