Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar speaks during the Winter session of the Legislative Assembly, in Patna, Tuesday, Nov 7, 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave a detailed account in the state Assembly of how an educated woman can constrain her husband during sexual intercourse, all the while stressing the need of women's education in population control.
Nitish Kumar said, "The husband's acts led to more births. However, with education, a woman knows how to restrain him...this is the reason the numbers (of births) are coming down."
In an attempt to defend Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Yadav said that the remark was about "sex education."
The BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday, accusing him of being "most misogynistic, vulgar, and patriarchal," over his comments regarding the need of women's education in population control. They also demanded the CM’s resignation.
"This is the mindset of the chief minister of Bihar. Imagine what will be the plight of women of Bihar if such a language is spoken in the Bihar assembly," Poonawalla said.
The Speaker of the Bihar Assembly has been urged by the National Commission for Women (NCW) to take firm action against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his comments in the Assembly regarding women's education being crucial for population control. They have also demanded an apology from the Chief Minister.
The NCW expressed in a letter to Awadh Bihari Choudhary, the speaker of the Bihar assembly, its strong condemnation and protest of the use of such vulgar and derogatory remarks by people in positions of responsibility that demonstrate extreme disrespect for women.
NCW chief Rekha Sharma took to social media to demand a clear and immediate apology from Nitish Kumar for his actions, condemning his derogatory language and emphasising the importance of accountability.
In addition, she urged other well-known female leaders to denounce Kumar's comments and call for an apology, including Atishi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress, and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
The incident escalated, with the NCW chief attempting to involve Priyanka Chaturvedi and Priyanka Gandhi into the fray. In a social media spat, Chaturvedi stated that while she would not support sexist comments from anyone, even if they came from within the I.N.D.I.A alliance, it would be fair to give Nitish the opportunity to apologise and withdraw his comment.
On Wednesday, Nitish Kumar expressed deep regret for his remarks and said he was taking them back.
His apology comes a day after his remarks in the Bihar Assembly drew criticism from the Opposition.
BJP members in Delhi held a protest in Chanakyapuri, close to the Bihar Bhawan, calling for the resignation of Kumar on Wednesday.
(With PTI inputs)