MP minister apologises for ‘upper caste women’ comment

Madhya Pradesh Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bisahulal Singh has apologised for his “Thakur women” comment made at an event, stating that his remarks were misconstrued and that it was not his intention to hurt the sentiments of any particular community.

At an event on Wednesday the minister said that while women from other castes come out and work in society, Thakur and upper caste women are kept behind the doors by their families.

If they don’t come out, women from Thakur and other upper caste families should be dragged out and made to work to ensure gender equality, the minister reportedly said.

“I apologise if anyone’s sentiments got hurt, but I didn’t say it to degrade any community. My motive was to say that women of all backgrounds should do social service with equality. People twisted my words,” Singh said.

“I didn’t talk about Thakur women or women of MP. I pointed to the people from our board and Brahmins from the district. I don’t think I said anything wrong. If people are still hurt, I apologise.”

Social media reacted sharply while Rajput Sabha and Karni Sena members staged protests in various cities of Madhya Pradesh over Singh’s comments.

Karni Sena set ablaze an effigy of Singh near his official residence in Bhopal.

“The minister’s objectionable remark has hurt the Rajput community. Our MP organising secretary Shailendra Singh Jhala has directed us to blacken Singh’s face whenever we see him,” the outfit’s Bhopal district president Krishna Bundela said.

Neha Bagga, spokesperson of the ruling BJP, said the party believes in women’s empowerment and respect. “Our government worked for women’s education, stopping crimes against women, empowering women through Self Help Groups,” she said, claiming the opposition Congress was trying to cause a rift among women by dividing them into different categories. “The opposition is busy in malicious campaigns with the help of forged videos and pictures,” she added.