Thakur women should be dragged out of their homes... to ensure equality: MP minister
The minister reportedly made the remarks during his address as the chief guest at an awards ceremony on Wednesday in Madhya Pradesh's Anuppur city.
Madhya Pradesh minister Bisahulal Singh recently said certain upper caste communities kept their women confined to their homes and such women “should dragged out” and made to work in society to ensure equality.
In a clip tweeted by news agency ANI, Singh, a leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was heard targeting upper caste groups such as those with surnames ‘Thakur’ and ‘Thakar’ and said their “kept their women confined to their homes and did not allow them to work outside”.
“Thakur-Thakar (upper castes) keep their women confined to their homes and do not allow them to work in society. Women of Thakurs and other big groups should be dragged out of their homes and made to work in society to ensure equality,” the food and civil supplies minister was heard saying in the video.
The minister reportedly made the remarks during his address as the chief guest at an awards ceremony on Wednesday in Madhya Pradesh's Anuppur city.
Singh is the latest among a string of sexist comments made by ruling party leaders in recent times.
In October, Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar said a “lot of modern women want to remain single” and “if they get married they don’t want to give birth”.
“I am sorry to say this. A lot of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don’t want to give birth, they want surrogacy. So, there is a paradigm shift in our thinking which is not good,” the minister said during the World Mental Health Day at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru.
When called out over the misogynist comment, the health minister said it was based on a survey. While stating that he was a proud father of a daughter and as a trained doctor himself, he said he understood the sensitivities around women and mental health issues. “My statement about the younger generation shying away from marriage and reproduction is also based on a survey. The findings of YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey shows that, among millennials, 19 per cent are not interested in either children or marriage.”