Comments made by President Pranab Mukherjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee on women participating in the protests demanding justice for the 23-year-old girl, who was gangraped in a moving bus here, caused furore across the country.
Speaking to the media on Thursday Abhijit, a Congress MP from Jangipur in West Bengal, said, “those who were coming in the name of students in the rallies, sundori sundori mahila (beautiful women) are highly dented and painted”.
He further trivialised the protests saying, “walking in candlelight processions, going to discotheques; we have also led student life, we have been students. I well know what the character of a student should be.” Abhijit went on to add that the women were giving interviews on television and showing off their children.
“I wonder whether they are children at all,” he said. Causing much embarrassment to his father and his party, he compared the protests going on in the capital to a pink revolution, and said it had very little connection to ground realities.
The comments evoked sharp reactions across the country and was criticized by many on social networking sites, with many people demanding that he resign from Parliament for making such insensitive statements.
Even his sister Sharmishta said she was shocked at her brothers comments.
“I express my utter shock and anguish. I really apologise to every women, man and every sensitive person in this country. I am utterly shocked and the only thing that I can say is that I really apologize on his behalf. I am quite surprised with what my brother said,” Sharmistha said.
“Not only as a President’s son, but as any sensitive man, he should not have made this kind of statement. Forget about being a political leader, it show a certain degree of insensitivity, my family is not like that,” she added.
Seeing the public outrage against him, Abhijit later took back his comments, “I apologise to all the people whose sentiments got hurt because of these sentences and these sentences are withdrawn.”