Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has stoked a controversy with his comment on the way women dress, comparing them to the character Shurpnakha in Ramayana. Shurpanakha was Ravana’s sister in the epic.
Speaking at an event organized by the Jain community on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti Thursday, Vijayvargiya was widely quoted by media as saying, “We call them devis [goddesses]. But girls these days dress so badly that one doesn’t see a devi in them, they look more like Shurpnakha [portrayed as a demoness in many traditional versions of the epic].”
He reportedly went on to add, “God has given you (women) a beautiful body, wear good clothes at least,” in a speech that was about the issue of drug abuse among the youth.
On the issue of substance abuse, Vijayvargiya was quoted as saying, “When I step out in the evening and see educated boys and girls dancing in an inebriated state, I feel like getting out of the car and slapping them five seven times…that would rid them of their Nasha [intoxication].”
The BJP national general secretary was reported as having further said, “Education is not as important as good culture is. In our days, we got food only after reciting couplets of Ramayana to our parents…What will happen to this country if the youth, the future, becomes victims of drugs.”
While the BJP has not reacted to the comments, once the video of his speech went viral, Vijayvargiya defended himself and told the local media Friday, “My statement has been twisted… I respect women and they have every right to wear what they want.”
He added: “But today, the youth is becoming a victim of drug (abuse)… in the city, when we travel we see girls in an inebriated state, wearing short dresses. Everybody is complaining about this culture (in the city).”
Meanwhile, Congress media in-charge in Madhya Pradesh, K.K. Mishra, hit out at Chief Minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while targeting Vijayvargiya.
Chouhan had called himself a brother to all women while launching the Ladli Laxmi scheme, a savings plan in the state.
“If ladli (beloved) sister of Madhya Pradesh is Shurpnakha, what does that make their brother? If you wanted to call their brother (Shivraj) Ravan, why did you attack them?” Mishra has been quoted as saying in the media.
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