“Just as one face of India makes us proud, another face of India makes us hang our heads in shame,” said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj here on Tuesday at a function marking International Women’s Day.
While she made no reference to the ongoing controversy over the banned BBC documentary, India’s Daughter that contained interviews with the rapist convicted for the December 16 gang rape and his defence lawyers, Ms. Swaraj’s comments on “the face” that is shameful for India were understood to refer to their remarks in the documentary.
Ms. Swaraj, who was speaking to women parliamentarians and journalists at the function,, said India was proud to have many “women achievers in every field.”
Many of the guests at the function were women MPs who had raised the issue over the documentary in Parliament, including Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and other women Ministers such as Uma Bharti and Preneet Kaur were among the audience at the Ministry of External Affairs headquarters.
