On Yogi’s website: ‘Women power does not require freedom, but protection’
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Yogi UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Yogi
TRYING TO counter Prime Minister Narendra Modi women empowerment pitch, the Congress on Monday cited an article by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to attack BJP for having an anti-women mindset. It also asked the PM and BJP chief Amit Shah to condemn Adityanath’s article on his website where he said “women power does not require freedom, but protection and channelisation”.
Seeking an apology from Adityanath, Congress’ communication department head Randeep Surjewala said that the “mindset of BJP is reflected by the article written by the UP CM on his website”. “PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah must condemn such disparaging and distasteful remarks….and issue him an advisory asking him not to use such language again,” he said.
In his article, Adityanath wrote, “Considering the importance and honour of women…our scriptures have always spoken about giving her protection….As energy can go waste and cause damage if left free and uncontrolled, women power also does not require freedom, but protection…” He then cited a Sanskrit shloka, “Father protects women power in childhood; husband does during her youth, and her son protects her when she gets old.
Therefore women do not deserve independence.” Surejwala said: “He says that women…do not need, deserve independence, but they need to be channelised and controlled like commodities that are used. This is shocking.” “The most shocking thing he says is that a man, if ever he gets the same attributes as a woman, such as humility, compassion, love, then he is equivalent to god. But if a woman becomes powerful, if a woman is brave, adopts courage…then she becomes a devil…If this is the mindset and attitude of the BJP, then this is reflective of the policies of the BJP across states,” said Surjewala.
Adityanath had also written that “a home gets destroyed when women become as effective as men.” About 33 per cent women reservation in legislatures, he wrote that the position of women following reservation in panchayats and other local bodies should be “reviewed”. “Evaluate how it affects the necessary and important role of women in family and upbringing of children. Decide that if women are given participation equivalent to men in politics and life outside, then whether our mother, daughter and sister would lose their form and significance,” he wrote, stressing that “whatever is seen so far is not very encouraging, but still it (reservation) needs to be continued as an experiment”.
Claiming that the article was an insult to each and every citizen of the country, Surjewala said: “Never before in the history of the country has any elected representative used such disparaging, dishonourable and distasteful remarks about women.”
“This reflects BJP’s anti-women mindset coming from none less than the BJP’s mascot… Adityanath must apologise to the women of India for his disparaging, dishonourable and distasteful remarks and also remove this article from his website without any condition,” he added.
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