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Shame
on Home Minister -Bombay Terror Attack
Some women wearing lipstick
and powder : Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
Dec 02, 2008. BJP vice-president
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has come under a severe attack from women parliamentarians,
cutting across party lines, for suggesting that “women wearing lipstick
and powder” have taken to streets in Mumbai, “leading marches against the
political class”. Distancing the party from Mr. Naqvi’s “women wearing
lipstick and powder” remark, Mr. Jaitley said the language used by the
senior leader should have been more dignified.
“Some women wearing lipstick
and powder have taken to streets in Mumbai and are abusing politicians,
thus spreading dissatisfaction against democracy. This is what terrorists
are doing in Jammu and Kashmir,” Naqvi told television channels, leading
to a barrage of protests from women parliamentarians, many of them from
his own BJP.
| “Many women in responsible
positions in India and across the world wear lipstick and make-up. What’s
the big deal about it? It only shows that most of the BJP leaders are mentally
bankrupt and that they cannot think of anything better,” said the All India
Mahila Congress president Prabha Thakur.
Women leaders in the BJP
— that claimed to become the first party reserving one-third of party posts
for women a few months ago — too, were unsparing in Naqvi’s criticism.
Said BJP vice-president Karuna Shukla: “All of us are deeply anguished
by what happened in Mumbai, but this doesn’t give anyone the freedom to
make irresponsible comments about women.” |
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Added Maharashtra BJP spokesperson
Shaina N C: “Whether it’s R R Patil or Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, people in public
lives should be careful with their words. Even if it was said in jest,
what Naqvi said was in poor taste.”
Asked if Naqvi’s comment
reminded her of Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav’s remarks on “par
kati” women, former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly said: “Yadav’s comments
were sexist; but to keep Naqvi’s comments in the same bracket would be
superficial reading. I can put on lipstick and still agree with Naqvi’s
statement. What he meant was the demonising of the political class that
leads to the loss of democracy.”
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The BJP, however, immediately
distanced itself from Naqvi’s views. “Those are his own views. As you express
dissent on an issue, the language should be dignified. His (Naqvi’s) statement
has gone beyond that. The BJP also believes that the protests only show
that the present Government has not been able to come up with concrete
anti-terror measures,” said BJP general secretary and head of party media
cell Arun Jaitley.
Naqvi later clarified that
he was only referring to a “small professional group of protesters who
have a penchant of taking to streets at the drop of a hat”. The BJP leader
was said to be specially perturbed by a journalist-turned-activist who
has involved herself with many a case related to communal strife in Gujarat
and elsewhere.. |
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