Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh kicked up a row with his remark that rural women will not benefit from the Women’s Reservation Bill because they are not as attractive as those from the affluent class.
“Bade bade gharon ki ladkiya aur mahilayan kewal upar ja sakti hain...yaad rakhna...apko mauka nahi milega..hamare gaon ki mahila me akarshan itna nahin...,”(Only girls and women from affluent class can go forward...remember this..you (rural women) will not get a chance...Our rural women did not have that much attraction),” he said at a rally in Barabanki on Thursday.
Mr. Mulayam made the remark while claiming that if the Bill is passed, women belonging to the affluent class will march ahead while those from poor background will be further pushed back.
The row over Mr. Mulayam’s comment was a throwback to the controversy over his remark - dubbed as sexist - in 2010 that if the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed it will fill Parliament with the kind of women who invite catcalls and whistles.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman condemned Mr. Mulayam’s remark and said there is a need to get out of the “mindset” of looking at women from the prism of whether they are attractive. “We are not a commodity, women have a big contribution to make,” she added.
Keywords: Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh, Women’s Reservation Bill
So back in 2010 Mulayam Singh had made a controversial remark that said
'if the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed it will fill Parliament with
the kind of women who invite catcalls and whistles.'
I was wondering if this was to happen, if a woman was to be catcalled
and whistled at in the Parliament, wouldn't it tell us something about
the kind of men who fill the institution already.
It is really difficult to gauge the intentions of Mr.Singh. Either ways
it is evident that he is expressing discontent for the formulation and
passage of the Women's Bill 2010 and the apparently sexist remarks just
symbolise apathy towards approving it's existence. Whatever it is our
politicians have never let us down in terms of the disparate set of
remarks that ignite the fuel of contention amongst one group or the
other.
The Comments from Mr.Mulayam singh make sense , even if not for beauty & good looking, let's not talk about exceptional case, Generally speaking only socially & economically affluent people only can make it in Indian politics,
So for a rural woman the reservation bill will be of no use at least in the present form.
Please don't forget in almost all MNC's fair looking men & women are preferred than the rest. We can't completely rule out the existence of such discrimination in the Indian society.
Well, I must admit these politicians are very crafty when it come to divide a group. This time he is trying to divide women's group based on
rich and poor, attractive and unattractive.
I hope he fails in his motive.
That is the practical truth. I don't comment on his corruption.
he spoke the truth. can any one enumerate benefits of the bill that illiterate rural women would get?
MR. mulayam i guess you are very attarctive.
The meaning of Mulayam Singh's statement is not that the rural women
are unattractive as females with inner beauty of grace, gentleness and
caring, who foster great human values of traditional Indian society
but rather because they do not individually compete for being consorts
of wealthy and powerful men by various ways they are required to do in
urban societies of Bhadralok India, thanks to Bollywood. His statement
is being twisted by the salesmen of capitalist values, for whom
everything including human beings are commodities for exploitation and
profit making.
This clearly shows the mentality of men in our male dominated society. If he can make such comments at a public rally with pride, there is little left to imagine where are we heading to.
What Mulayam said is true to some extent, rural people should have their
own share of reservations. Women reservation should not be snatched away
by Heroins, Sports ladies, family members of politicians, family members
of state/central service employees.
The kind of stuff our so called leaders are made of...It is beyond even
being ashamed of. Those who vote for them, either don't understand what
they are saying, or they don't even get to vote.
I wish BJP and other parties for that matter, mature a bit. Though,
his statement involved using words like attractive, which is not
attractive in today's political scenario dismissing the intended
message for the choice of words is akin to missing the forest for a
bush. To some extent, his statement can be corroborated. Even, The
Hindu, published an article which showed that the women in politics
are generally richer than their male counter parts. So, I wish BJP and
other parties not to indulge in such cheap bickering.
Instead, I would have applauded a party that clearly (in layman's
term) the benefits and costs of the policy - or any debates in this
direction...
If the bickering is any but an indication of the lack of maturity and
evolution in the thought processes of our "political class". It'd be
good for the "Mango People" to reject these for their own good...
Seriously?!! does these politicians think we vote for them because they look good?!! I never knew Mulayam can be this funny!!
So from now on "Not so good looking" women will get Lok sabha seat. So women should intentionally avoid beautification tips to represent. Seems kind of austerity policy. Way to go for "non good looking" women reservation bill.
Sadly Mulayam Singh views are but reflection of medieval Indian mind
set on women by some of the leading lights of Indian polity. It should
come as no surprise with so much of entrenched deep rooted prejudice
against women has ensured the country in the shameful bottom of a
global gender equity index. India stands at the 114th rung out of 134
nations, and 125th with regard to provision of economic opportunities
for women. So called leaders like Mulayam have ensured this sorry
state. Many Indians have few qualms in aborting female foetuses or
burning women who don’t satisfy dowry demands. We witness the sick
hypocrisy of deifying motherhood, yet deny pregnant women the nutrition
and medical attention they need, proudly flaunt our feudal and medieval
mindsets vis-à-vis women. Mulayam controlling the most populace state
and obscurantist stone age attitude of Khap panchayaths in fact
indirectly justify violence against women by reducing them to state of
ridicule. India’s low ranking on the gender equity index is shameful
and discerning Indians fully understand why.
that many woman workers in urban India hailed from rural environments. that many of them struggle to eke out a living is a fact with one exception. they spent major part of their earning on their children's education. that is a welcome feature of their changed attitude.
I cannot fault mr. mulyam singh yadav for comparing them to bollywood stars and nouveau riche for looks and manners, as it has become the touch stone for assessing the desirability of ladies. but average Indian woman either from rural or urban, contributes more than share of the top politicians of our country! thanks to them the country moves forward! when the country becomes better educated, their role will be recognised. at present we are dumb, deaf and blind!
For all we know, Mulayam could be right. It isn't all about being
populist, but his comment clearly states that the bill isn't 'reaching
out' to the poor.
1. What makes Mr. Mulayam Singh think that "attractive" or "upper
class" women have no right to make it to the Parliament?
2. If he's so concerned for rural women, why doesn't he advocate 100%
reservation for females? Men have dominated the scene for so long, let
them take a rest and let women run the country.
3. Coming to facts, even in constituencies/posts reserved for women
there's rotation: General, SC, ST, etc. Mr. Mulayam felt no shame
while lying to their face.
4. In the beginning, that might indeed be the case. The elite Nehru
Gandhi family ruled us for so long because they had access- to
education, to opportunities, to power. Should we much rather have let
the British rule us on the pretext that the "attractive" Nehru Gandhi
family would benefit from Independence?
5. This reminds me of the Yes Minister episode in which all members
are strongly in favor of positive discrimination for women "in
principle".
6. Reservation or not, we'll make it to the Parliament.
either my hindi is not good or writer of this article
Akarshan also mean interest
Rural women wont have intrest/trend for this activity
I am sure those "unattractive" rural women have more sense and intelligence compared to man. How a man of this low intellect happen to be the leader of a party, that tells a lot about the people who follow this leader and the party. Democracy implies one person one vote, you would have elected representatives like this specimen when you have one group (based on caste, creed, or regional identity) voting en masse.
Mulayamsingh's remark is derogatory and shameful but he spoke
reality of Indian politics. He has four decade of experience in
politics. But we must change this reality and politics should be
based on merits as bureaucracy.
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