Post date: Dec 27, 2012 4:47:30 PM
Criticism in India for Abhijeet Mukherjee, the son of President, Pranab Mukherjee after he calls anti-rape protesters 'dented and painted', saying that it has now become fashionable to hold candle marches.
BIRBHUM, WEST BENGAL, INDIA (DECEMBER 27, 2012) (ANI) - The Indian President, Pranab Mukherjee's son, Abhijeet Mukherjee on Thursday (December 27) called the raging anti-rape protesters 'dented and painted', adding that that it had now become fashionable to hold candle marches.
Mukherjee said that the protesters were not students but pretty women, who were dented and painted, almost like the Pink Revolution. He added that these women were not in touch with the realities of the ground.Mikherjee also said that after watching the magnitude of the protest, it is obvious that it was backed by a political group.
"I believe there must be some hidden agenda of some political party. So many people and students have turned up that it is hard to believe the non-involvement of any political party." Abhijeet Mukherjee said, while speaking to reporters in Birbhum town in eastern India's West Bengal state, " The protests that have taken place in Delhi and the magnitude shows that there are hidden motives of political parties in this matter and the government should look into that angle,"
In New Delhi, renowned women rights activist, Ranjana Kumari termed the remark as sexist and lewd and demanded an apology from Mukherjee.
"Coming from the son of President of India, who is a respected, senior and such a responsible politician, really this is sexist, this is insulting to women, this is absolutely a lewd remark. The people's representative is not a street urchin to talk like that. This really speaks volumes about the mindset of such people who are sitting in such responsible positions in the country. It is totally unacceptable. We demand an apology from him," Kumari said.
Politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Brinda Karat called for a code of conduct for lawmakers that would prevent them from making such 'deplorable remarks'.
"I think it's absolutely deplorable that he should make such a statement and it just shows his absolutely sick and perverted mentality. He comes from a state, Bengal, where this kind of statement will not be tolerated for a single minute. He has to publically apologise to the nation. He has to withdraw those words and I do believe that the time has come, since there is such a plethora of statements coming from people like Mr. Mukherjee against women and insulting women. I think the time has come for a code of conduct in the speech and behaviour elected representatives, concerning women," said Karat.
The barbaric beating, rape and physical assault of the December 16 victim fuelled massive protests across India with thousands hitting central New Delhi to express their anger and disgust with the government as well as with the feudal mindset of the society in general.
Political parties, university students and women's rights groups have taken to the streets in cities across the nation to criticise the police and government for not doing enough to curb increasing cases of rape in the capital.
However, instead of channelling the outrage, the government has found itself on the defensive over the use of force against the mostly student protesters.
During the clashes, several policemen and protesters were severely injured.
Spokesperson for India's main opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shanawaz Hussain said that it was the right of every citizen to carry out peaceful candle light marches and added that Mukherjee's remarks were avoidable.
"Abhijeet Mukherjee is a newly elected lawmaker and he should avoid making such remarks. People have the right to conduct a candle march; there is not a state of emergency. Every citizen has the right to protest peacefully. Nobody would do a candle march after getting a no objection certificate from the Congress office. They want that there should not be a candle march; there should be no demonstration. If someone is doing a peaceful candle march then it cannot be criticized," said Hussain.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has faced fierce criticism for remaining largely silent about the rape, vowed action against what he called a "monstrous" crime. However, he had appealed to maintain calm.
Many of the crimes against women are in India's heavily populated northern plains, where, in parts, there is a deep-rooted mindset that women are inferior and must be restricted to being homemakers and childbearers.
In many cases, violence against women has a level of social acceptability. A government survey found 51 percent of Indian men and 54 percent of women justified wife beating.
New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures.
Most sexual assaults go unreported, but the brutality of recent attack triggered the biggest protests in the capital since mid-2011 demonstrations against corruption that rocked the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.