Janata Dal United MP Sharad Yadav is no stranger to controversies. This time, Yadav made yet another misogynistic remark when he compared selling of votes with crime against women. Worse yet, he even said that when a woman’s modesty is violated, it is a matter of loss of honour of her village and that sale of votes is similarly a loss of honour for a state.
Addressing an event in Bihar’s Patna, Yadav remarked that “The honour of being able to cast a vote is a much bigger honour than your daughter's honour.” The tall leader was labouring to prove a point that is not only deeply sexist, but also a disgrace to the national pride that he intends to instill among the electorate.
Notorious for making sexually-coloured remarks, Yadav had in the past spoken of south Indian women in a disgraceful fashion, right inside Parliament. When his regressive comments were contested by union Minister Smriti Irani, Yadav sneered at her, saying that “I know what you are.”
Time after time, our politicians have been at the forefront of a smear campaign that places women only as an object of sexual desire. In the aftermath of the Bangalore carnage, some of Karnataka’s top cabinet ministers were seen comparing women to ‘petrol’ and ‘sugar’.
Gender sensitivity and gender equality are too tall an agenda when we are governed by such misogynist netas.
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
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