New Delhi: Amid controversy over Azam Khan’s sexist remark against BJP’s Rama Devi inside Parliament, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi defended the Samajwadi Party lawmaker with an absurd analogy.
“He should be given a serious punishment and suspended for five years,” said Devi, who was officiating the House on Thursday when Khan made the objectionable remarks against her. The BJP leader also said that she would have forgiven him had Khan tendered an immediate apology, but he stormed out of Parliament. A mere apology will not suffice as the comments, which were expunged from the record, were an insult to Parliament and its members, she said.
Speaking in defence of Rampur MP, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi said, “When a brother and sister meet, they kiss. Does it equal sex? A mother kisses her son and the son kisses his mother. Is that sex?”
“Azam Khan’s statement is misinterpreted. So, he should apologize but not resign,” Manjhi said. Manjhi’s remarks were purportedly in reference to Khan’s excuse that he regards Rama Devi as a sister.
The SP leader had created a controversy after he made objectionable remarks against Rama Devi when she was presiding over the debate on the triple talaq bill this Thursday in the Lok Sabha.
BJP members in Lok Sabha had on Friday condemned Khan’s remarks and demanded exemplary action against him.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said this should not be treated as a woman’s issue alone, as Khan’s remarks are a blot on all legislators, including men. Referring to the couplet he had uttered, Irani said: “This is not a House where men come to gaze into the eyes of any woman. It is a privilege to speak in this House. If such disrespectful remarks were made against a woman outside, then she would have sought police protection, and even got it…. We cannot stay quiet and watch.”
