Hyderabad:Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has landed himself in the eye of storm because of his statement in the gang rape case of two minor girls in Goa. Sawant had said that why the girls were out till so late at night, it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure the safety of the children and they should not let their children especially minors to stay out overnight.
By the way, he is not the first leader to make such statements about women. Several leaders have made absurd comments about women and rapes.
1. Tirath Singh Rawat
As soon as the former chief minister of Uttarakhand Tirath Singh Rawat got the responsibility of the state, he made a flurry of controversial statements. One of these statements was also about the clothes of women. Rawat had associated ripped jeans from the knees of women with rituals. After which he had a lot of trouble from his political opponents on social media.
2. Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari, a member of the Uttar Pradesh Women's Commission, said, "Society itself will have to be serious about increasing crimes against women. Mobile is a big problem in such cases. Girls talk on mobile for hours, mix up with boys. Their mobiles are also not checked. The family members do not know and then they run away with the boys while talking to them on the mobile."
3. Mulayam Singh Yadav
On rape cases, former Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav had said in a rally in support of changing the laws that "when there is a difference of opinion between boys and girls, the girl gives a statement that I have been raped, After this, the poor boy is sentenced to jail. Will he be hanged for rape? Boys make mistakes."
4.Sharad Yadav
The year 1997 was when the women's reservation bill was being debated. Sharad Yadav had said, "By getting the Women's Reservation Bill passed, you want to bring estranged women in the House." However, Yadav had to apologise for the protest. In 2017, Yadav had said that "the respect of the vote is greater than the respect of the daughters. If the respect of the daughter is lost, then the respect of the village and the locality will be lost, but once the vote is sold, the honour of the country will be lost".
5. Kailash Vijayvargiya
BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya had said that women should do such makeup, which creates reverence, not excitement. "Sometimes women do such makeup, which makes people excited. It is better that women stay within the Lakshman Rekha. There is only one word - limit. If the dignity is violated, then Sita is abducted. Lakshman Rekha has been drawn for every person. If anyone crosses that Lakshman Rekha, then Ravana is sitting in front, he will kidnap Sita and take her away."
6. Digvijay Singh
Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who was in the headlines for his statements, had made objectionable remarks on a woman MP of his own party. While addressing a public meeting, Digvijay Singh had called MP Meenakshi Natarajan "Sau Taka Tanch Maal".
7. Abhijit Mukherjee
Former president Pranab Mukherjee's son and former Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee had commented on women who took part in the protests against the Nirbhaya gang rape. Abhijeet had said that "it has become a fashion to come to the streets with candles in hand, these dented-painted protesting women first go to the disco and then come to the India Gate and perform."He apologised for it later.
8. Naresh Agarwal
After the rape case came to light in Budaun, UP, Naresh Aggarwal had raised questions on the victim by giving an absurd statement. Naresh Aggarwal had said that "today even the animal of one's house is not taken by force."
9. Anisur Rehman
During an election rally in 2012, CPIM leader Anisur Rehman said that "We want to ask Mamata didi how much compensation she needs, how much money will she take for rape?" Anisur Rehman made this statement after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced compensation for rape victims. He later apologised.
10. Sheila Dikshit
Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit had said on the 2008 murder of a TV journalist Soumya Viswanathan that "women should not be too adventurous. She was driving alone at three in the morning in a city where it was dark in the night." Women going out is not considered very safe, I think we should take some precautions." Soumya Vishwanathan was murdered in the same city of Delhi where Sheila Dikshit was the Chief Minister at that time.
11.Mamata Banerjee