‘Nari ka samman’ priority: Mulayam Singh’s u-turn after shocking rape remark

Mathura: Clarifying his stand after being at the eye of a storm for his controversial remark on rape, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday said that his words had been "distorted".

He and his party had the highest respect for women. In fact he had gone to jail a number of times in matters of social rights, including the rights for women...His words had been distorted, Yadav said.

Read: Boys make mistakes, why hang them: Mulayam Singh on Mumbai's Shakti Mills rapists

In future also he would stand by "nari ka samman" (or women's honour) and will support stern punishment for anyone who attacks the dignity of women.

Yadav in reference to the Shakti Mills rape cases in Mumbai where death penalty was awarded to three rape accused, had said "boys err at times."

"Death penalty for rape is unfair...will change rape laws when we come to power," Yadav had said attracting huge criticism from all quarters.

Referring to the poverty of the masses, he said the shrinking of cultivable area was posing a problem and shortage of food grains could become a world phenomenon and even countries like the USA and Australia would not be able to export grain. One way of meeting the problem was to bring under cultivation an estimated 65,000 acres now covered with ravines between Agra and Etawah.

He also took a dig at the Planning Commission Report that said people could subsist on Rs 28 a day.