RJD leader Siddiqui stirs controversy over ‘lipstick, bob-cut' remark on women’s quota

Addressing a public rally in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui on Saturday (September 30) stirred a controversy when he told his audience that women wearing ‘lipstick and bob cut’ will benefit the most out of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

According to media reports, the former Bihar minister made the sexist remark while addressing a rally of backward communities. Discussing the RJD’s demand for reservation for Other Backward Communities (OBCs) in the Women’s Reservation Bill, Siddiqui said, “It will be in order if the central government decides to give reservation to the OBC communities within the women’s quota; otherwise, only women wearing powder-lipstick and bob cut will come to the legislatures.”

The Women’s Reservation Bill was passed by both houses during the Special Session held in the new Parliament building, despite protests from some of the prominent members of the opposition INDIA alliance including the Congress and the RJD, which demanded reservation for OBCs in the proposed law. President Droupadi Murmu on Friday (September 29) gave her assent to the law which sets aside 33 per cent of seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women.

His remarks drew criticism not only from the ruling BJP but also from INDIA alliance partners like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), according to media reports.

Mahua Maji, JMM Rajya Sabha MP, struck a note of caution over such statements. “We are in the 21st century today. One should avoid making such statements which can hurt women. We also want the women from backward classes to come forward. We are also talking about the reservation of SC, ST, and OBC women in the Women's Reservation Bill,” Maji was quoted as saying in media reports.

Taken aback by the controversy that his remark has stirred, Siddiqui expressed regret and sought to clarify the circumstances in which he had made it. It was unintentional and was made to explain in layman’s language how the women’s quota would benefit only the upper-class women if there was no reservation for OBCs, he said. “In that rally, hundreds of rural women were there... I used that language to explain to the rural women in their language. My intention was not to hurt anyone... If someone is hurt, I express regret... It was a gathering of extremely backward classes and I was teaching them,” Siddiqui was quoted as saying.

The women’s quota in legislatures sans reservation for the SC, ST and OBC communities has been a sore point with parties like RJD, JDU and SP, and resistance to the law is not new. The late JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav had also stirred a similar controversy more than a decade back with his ‘par kati mahilaein’ remark when the law was introduced in Parliament, in an obvious reference to the rich, upper-class urbane women entering into legislatures.