The former Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar apologised after he made his’if rape is inevitable, enjoy it’ statement during a discussion on farm laws in the Karnataka Assembly
Despite much outrage about sexist remarks from Indian politicians, things don’t seem to change much. The latest among the list of politicians do have made cringe remarks about women is Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Gulabrao Patil. He compared the roads in his constituency, Jalgaon, to Mathura MP Hema Malini’s cheeks.
NDTV quoted Patil as saying, “Those who have been MLAs for 30 years should come to my constituency and see the roads. If they are not like Hema Malini’s cheeks, then I will resign.”
Patil’s comments come close on the heels of senior Congress leader and former Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly KR Ramesh Kumar’s comment on rape last week. On Thursday, while speaking in the Karnataka Assembly, he said to the Speaker, “When rape is unavoidable, one should enjoy it”. The sexist comment, which was made during a discussion about farm laws in the Karnataka Assembly, invited laughs from others present in the Assembly.
However, KR Ramesh Kumar, who is controversy’s child, isn’t alone in making bizarre statements, sometimes on the matter of rape. Here’s a look.
‘Dented and painted’
After the gruesome 2012 Delhi gang rape, former President of India and late Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee’s son, Abhijeet Mukherjee, drew shock and anger after he referred to women protesting against the rape as “dented and painted”. “These pretty women, dented and painted, who come for protests are not students. I have seen them speak on television, usually women of this age are not students.”
‘Rapes happen because men and women interact freely’
In 2012, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that rape cases in India were on the rise because men and women had the opportunity to interact with each other more freely.
“Earlier, if men and women would hold hands, they would get caught by parents and reprimanded, but now everything is so open. It’s like an open market with open options,” Mamata Banerjee said.
‘Boys will be boys’
No comment was more atrocious than this one made by Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav.
In 2014, he had tried to defend three men convicted for gang-raping a woman in Badaun by claiming that “boys will be boys, they make mistakes”.
In a Moradabad rally, he had said, “Ladkiyan pehle dosti karti hain. Ladke-ladki mein matbhed ho jata hai. Matbhed hone key baad usey rape ka naam dey deti hain. Ladko sey galti ho jati hai. Kya rape case mein phasi di jayegi? (First girls become friends with boys. Then when they have differences between them, girls level rape charges. Boys commit mistakes. Will they be hanged for rape?).”
‘Rape sometimes right, sometimes wrong’
In June 2014, Madhya Pradesh chief minister kicked up the hornet’s nest with his remarks that rape is sometimes wrong and sometimes right and that it is a social problem which no government can prevent.
“It is a social crime which depends on the man and the woman. It is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Unless a complaint is filed, nothing happens,” he said. “It is not possible for any government to ensure that rape is not committed. Action can be taken only after the act is done,” he had told reporters.
‘Will ask my boys to go and rape people’
Actor and Trinamool Congress leader Tapas Pal while delivering a speech in a Choumaha village in West Bengal in 2014, threatened to let loose his men against his rivals.
Pal said, “If anyone from Opposition or their wives and sisters are here, then listen up, if any one of your people touch anyone from TMC I will destroy you, I will not spare them. I will send my boys and they will rape people.”
‘If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way’
Now chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar has also made a blunder in this regard.
In 2014, then a MLA from Karnal, the BJP leader had said, “If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way.”
Responding to a question on whether young people should have freedom of choice, the BJP politician said, “If you want freedom, why don’t they just roam around naked? Freedom has to be limited. These short clothes are western influences. Our country’s tradition asks girls to dress decently.”
’90 percent rapes consensual’
In 2012, Haryana Congress leader Dharambir Goyat sparked outrage by claiming that 90 per cent of the cases involved “consensual sex”.
“The girl gets into an affair with a boy and she goes with him without knowing that he is of criminal mindset. It’s not the state government which is responsible for rapes. In fact in most of the cases it is consensual sex,” Goyat had said.
The leader had been asked about increasing rape cases in the state that year for which the state government has been facing criticism from opposition parties.
‘Chowmein leads to hormonal imbalance evoking an urge to indulge in such acts’
After a series of 19 rapes took place within 30 days in June 2013, Haryana Khap Panchayat leader Jitender Chhatar put all the blame on Chowmein and fast food.
Chhatar explained, “Chowmein leads to hormonal imbalance, evoking an urge to indulge in acts such as rape and sex. You also know the impact of chowmein, which is a spicy food, on our body. Hence, our elders too advised to eat light and nutritious food.”
These are just some of the offensive comments made by Indian politicians, which shows how seriously the matter of women’s rights is taken in India.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.