Now SP leader Abhishek Mishra under fire over blunt remarks on women safety

Zee Media Bureau/Tarun Khanna

New Delhi: In what can draw further flak for Samajwadi Party, Abhishek Mishra, a minister in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Cabinet on Saturday said that `deployment of constable behind every woman in the state is practically impossible`. The insensitive remarks by the SP leader came after he was asked about the measures taken by the UP government to curb rising crimes against women in the state. Mishra, who is a Ph.D holder from University of Cambridge and was a faculty member of IIM Ahmedabad, further went on to say that there is no mechanism to keep a tab on men venturing out at night. “How can we keep a check on where does a husband goes at night, leave alone woman?,” said Mishra. Soon after Mishra made such statements, several women activists condemned these remarks. Besides them, the remarks were also criticised by the opposition. “This shows the UP government`s inability to protect women in the state,” said BJP leader Vijay Bahadur Pathak. Mishra isn`t the only SP leader who has made insensitive remarks against womenfolk. Earlier, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav was quoted defending the rapists and saying, “Boys do make mistakes, but they cannot be hanged for that.” Another SP leader Abu Azmi had said that any woman who has sex outside marriage should be hanged, including rape victims. While Mohsin Khan had said that rapes are natural in such a big state, Ramgopal Yadav said that in many places, when the relationship between girls and boys come out in open, it is termed as rape. Even UP CM Akhilesh Yadav couldn`t refrain himself from making insensitive statement against a woman journalist. When the journalist asked Akhilesh about the law and order situation in the state, he said, “I hope you have not faced any danger!”