New Delhi : A day after Rahul Gandhi set off a controversy when he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running away from the Rafale deal debate in the Lok Sabha and letting a “woman” (Nirmala Sitharaman) defend him in the Parliament, the National Commission for Women (NCW) issued a notice to the Congress president on Thursday over his statement. NCW’s letter to Rahul calls his remarks “extremely misogynistic, offensive and unethical.” The women’s panel also wrote that the body “strongly condemns such irresponsible and disparaging views of persons holding responsible positions.”
NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said, “We’ve asked explanation from Rahul Gandhi for why he said what he said yesterday in tweets. The statement was pathetic, sexist & misogynistic. That’s why we’ve sent him a notice. He has to explain what does he mean when he is trying to talk low of women.” Addressing a rally in Jaipur on Wednesday, the Congress leader had remarked: “The watchman with a 56-inch chest ran away and told a woman, Sitharaman ji, defend me. I won’t be able to defend myself, defend me.” Hours later, Rahul’s comment came under attack from Modi when he accused the Opposition of insulting India’s “women power”, at an event in Agra. “The Opposition is bent upon insulting a woman defence minister. This is not an insult to a woman, but an insult to entire India’s women power, for which these irresponsible leaders will have to pay the price,” Modi had said. Later in the evening, Rahul hit back with a tweet, saying “Stop shaking. Be a Man.”
Rahul’s tweet, however, drew further flak on social media with twitterati slamming him with a hashtag “#BeAMan”.
Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal also took to Twitter calling Rahul’s statement “misogynistic.” “Rafale scam should be thoroughly investigated but @RahulGandhi statement on it is really regressive and misogynistic. I fail to understand how men forget that women are far stronger than them! Can they even think of carrying a baby in their womb for nine months and give birth to it?,” she tweeted.
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