Mehbooba Mufti makes a veiled attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi for 'misogynistic' remark

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday took an apparent dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his 'extremely misogynistic' remarks against Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a rally in Jaipur. Mufti said that she feels deeply disappointed when 'misogynistic comments are normalised in political discourse'.

As a woman, feel deeply disappointed when misogynistic comments are normalised in our political discourse. Be a man/ man up/ stop behaving like a woman - such phrases reek of blatant sexism. Ironical since Indira ji was referred to “as the only man in the cabinet”.

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) January 10, 2019

"As a woman, feel deeply disappointed when misogynistic comments are normalised in our political discourse. Be a man/ man up/ stop behaving like a woman - such phrases reek of blatant sexism. Ironical since Indira ji was referred to "as the only man in the cabinet," she tweeted.

Rahul Gandhi landed himself in a major controversy after he said, "The watchman with a 56-inch chest ran away and told a woman, Sitharaman ji, defend me. I won't be able to defend myself, defend me."

The Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah has accused Gandhi of 'insulting' women and demanded his apology. Shah said the Congress and its leaders owed an apology to "India's Nari Shakti".

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has issued a notice to Gandhi. The notice says that the NCW has taken suo motu cognizance of news reports "wherein it is reported that you have allegedly made remarks insulting against a woman minister". 

"What is @rahulgandhi trying to imply with his misogynistic statement-  "... ek mahila say kaha meri raksha kiijiye."? Does he think women are weak? The irony- calling an accomplished defence minister of the largest democracy a weak person. @nsitharaman @narendramodi @ncwindia," NCW chief Rekha Sharma tweeted.  

The NCW in the notice said, "It has been reported that you allegedly said, "..... the PM ran away and asked a 'mahila '- a veiled reference to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman - to defend him".     The commission said the remarks are extremely misogynistic, offensive, unethical and shows an extreme disrespect towards the dignity and honour of women in general.

However, actor-turned-politician has apparently supported the Congress president by saying that Gandhi's remarks were taken out of context.

"He is not against women, if he can appoint a transgender representative in important position. Why do you want to look at his statement in only that way? Isn’t it true that PM has not answered¬ been in Parl, we should look at that too," Prakash said.