Murali said in Lok Sabha that women should not wear modern clothes
Murli Mohan Maganti. (Photo: DC/File)
Hyderabad: TD MP Murali Mohan Maganti kicked up a controversy in Parliament with his sexist remarks about how women must dress in a dignified manner and uphold Indian culture.
The comment triggered protests from women MPs, who said he should leave the House. The comment, coming from a former actor and producer, made him a butt of jokes with people expressing outrage on his “silly moral policing”.
The MP was quoted saying, “I endlessly appeal to daughters, sisters and girls of the country to dress in a dignified way and uphold the tradition of Indian culture. I appeal to my brothers to treat every girl as a family member and treat her with respect. This will be a great tribute to Mother India. India has had a special place across the world for its culture.”
When asked to justify his statement by a television channel, he said, “I do completely believe that women should not wear modern clothes. If they are disturbed by my comments, I will apologise and withdraw it.”
Women’s rights activists and women political leaders called the statement really immature. Actor and YSRC politician Roja said that Mr Murali Mohan was making big and intellectual statements though he had been an actor all his life.
“What does he mean by dignified? A sari exposes more than a jeans with a t-shirt. It is up to a woman what she wants to wear. Being a hero and a producer, what drove him to make such a comment? He is a full time commercial hero and this shows double standards. He is simply making big and intellectual statements, whereas his movies have portrayed much more stuff.”
Social media too poked fun at the actor-turned MP. Netizens questioned what he meant by the term “dignified” and asked why rapes of minor girls were being reported in the country.
Shabbir kD þ@shabbirkd wrote: “Our MPs are displaying a medieval mindset. No wonder they cannot protect our women.”
Really..? An extra inch of visible flesh causes them to rape..!! Well, this is more an insult to MEN than women.. @timesnow #MoralPoliceMP
— aastha chauhan (@aasthachauhan27) August 7, 2014Am a bit confused, what is traditional dress ? People have such short memories. Original Indian dress was something completely different....
— Indi Patriot (@theindipatriot) August 7, 2014#MoralPoliceMP should opt for designing dresses for women if they show their incompetence as MP by stating such comments.
— Afaq Alam Ansari (@Afaq_404) August 7, 2014#MoralPoliceMP does he really care about women? if he is, he might have demanded better rules®ulations & respect for women not lectures
— Siva Kumar Raju (@iamsivaji) August 7, 2014Jeevitha Rajashekar, former actor and BJP leader said, "It is completely a personal choice of women. We know how to dress decently. He should not say that they should not wear modern clothes. He did not follow what he said in his acting career. I believe that every person should wear what they are comfortable in and it should not be obscene be it either men or women.” Vasanth Kannabiran, Founder member, Asmita Collective for Women said, "This is pure idiocy. It is very troubling on how this whole thing is going on about women and their way of living. Are they trying to go back in the dark ages? The MP needs to go back and get some education. Does he even know about equality? What are his qualifications? He is thinking 60-years backward. They should be penalised for speaking like this as this is directed to a whole bunch of people. How do these people talk with such insensitive and casual attitude? They know they can get away with it and more than half will agree with what he said. But, if one is punished, the next will learn. This is total impunity."( Source : dc )
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