Bhopal: Another politician, another loose comment on women – the sickening trend refuses to die in India.
This time, senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, who happens to be a minister in the Madhya Pradesh government, stirred a controversy with his comments on women’s clothing.
“I view women as goddesses, and they should wear good clothes. I don’t like women or girls who wear revealing clothes, to the point where I refuse to take photos with them,” Vijayvargiya said at an event on Thursday.
The minister for Parliamentary Affairs as well as Urban Development & Housing further opined that women should dress in traditional Indian attire.
“I believe women should dress beautifully in Indian attire, as it is highly regarded in our culture… In some other countries, women who wear less clothes are often considered to be fashionable, similarly politicians who give fewer speeches are good. This is a saying in other countries, I don’t believe in this,” Vijayvargiya said.
The 69-year-old Vijayvargiya is a repeat ‘offender’.
Last year, he had sparked outrage by comparing women in “bad dresses” to Shurpanakha, Ravan’s sister in Ramayana who is a demoness.
“We see goddess in women. But (with) the kind of bad dresses the girls wear and move around, they do not embody goddesses but look like Shurpanakha… God has given you a good and beautiful body… dress well, friends,” he had said at a religious gathering in Indore.
The BJP leader had provided fuel for Opposition parties, and his latest comments are sure to ignite more debates.
“Are we living under Talibani rule that the government will tell women what to wear, what to eat and whom to meet?” All India Mahila Congress chief Netta D’Souza had said.
“What Kailash Vijayvargiya is saying shows the love for ‘Shurpanakha’ within the BJP. This is the character of the BJP,” Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate had hit out against the saffron party.