Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has found himself embroiled in a storm of controversy after making comments about women's education in the Bihar Assembly that were widely criticised for being derogatory and insensitive. The remarks centred around the role of women's education in population control, triggering a backlash from Opposition leaders, women's rights advocates and political figures.
What did CM Nitish Kumar say?
During his address in the
Bihar Assembly on Tuesday, November 7, Nitish Kumar said that women and women's education are responsible for controlling population growth. However, it was the explicit manner in which Kumar conveyed this message that raised eyebrows.
"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," Kumar said in a derogatory manner.
Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister, defended Kumar's statements, arguing that they were related to sex education and should not be misinterpreted.
Bihar CM retracts his statement
As criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and women's rights activists from the National Commission for Women (NCW) rose, Kumar on Wednesday, November 8, retracted his comments.
Speaking to the press and while addressing the Bihar Assembly, the Chief Minister said, "I apologise and take my words back."
Reactions pour in
The BJP was quick to denounce Kumar's comments on Tuesday. Shehzad Poonawalla, a national spokesperson for the BJP, described the remarks as "most vulgar, indecent, most misogynistic, sexist, and patriarchal." He demanded that the Chief Minister resign from his position.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) also expressed its strong condemnation of Kumar's statements, calling them "regressive" and "egregiously insensitive to women's rights and choices." NCW's Chairperson, Rekha Sharma, demanded an "unequivocal apology" from the
Bihar Chief Minister, stating that the comments were an affront to the dignity and respect every woman deserves.
Sharma posted on X that his crass remarks in the Vidhan Sabha are an affront to the dignity and respect that every woman deserves. She wrote, "If a leader can make such comments so openly in a democracy, one can only imagine the horror the state must be enduring under his leadership."
Leaders from various political parties, including Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Sushil Modi (BJP), Union Minister RK Singh, and Juhie Singh (SP), expressed their disapproval of Nitish Kumar's comments, with some calling them vulgar and inappropriate.
