Sonia Gandhi slams Govt over 'misogynist questions' in CBSE paper, Opposition stages walk out

"The passage contains atrocious statements such as women gaining independence is the main reason for a wide variety of social and family problems and if 'wives stop obeying their husbands, that is the main reason children and servants are undisciplined," she said, reading out excerpts from the question paper.

New Delhi: Lashing out at the Union Government over the alleged misogynist questions in the Class X CBSE examination, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said in Lok Sabha that the questions depict a sorry image on the quality of education and examinations in the country.

Dubbing the questions as "nonsensical" and "blatantly misogynist", during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, she said that not only the related passage be immediately withdrawn but the Central government must apologise and conduct a review of the incident.

"The passage contains atrocious statements such as women gaining independence is the main reason for a wide variety of social and family problems and if wives stop obeying their husbands, that is the main reason children and servants are undisciplined," she said, reading out excerpts from the question paper.

The MPs of Congress DMK, IUML, NCP and the National Conference staged a walkout demanding clarification from the Government over the issue.

"I add my voice to the concerns of students, parents, teachers and educationists and I also raise strong objections to such blatantly misogynist material finding its way into an important examination conducted by the CBSE," Gandhi said.

The related English question paper carried a comprehension comprising phrases such as "emancipation of women destroyed the parents' authority over the children" and "it was only by accepting her husband's way that a mother could gain obedience over the younger ones."

Following the outrage, the CBSE issued a statement later in the day stating that the related questions were "not in accordance with the guidelines of the board" with regard to the setting of question papers.

" In this backdrop and on the basis of feedback received from stakeholders, the matter was referred to a committee of subject experts. As per their recommendations, it has been decided to drop the passage No.1 and its accompanying questions of the Question Paper Series JSK/1," the CBSE said in a statement.