‘When women uneducated, men careless’: Nitish Kumar on population control

India

oi-Deepika S

Kumar’s former deputy and an erstwhile loyalist Sushil Kumar Modi issued a strongly worded statement accusing Nitish Kumar of having used a language that befitted the streets.

Patna, Jan 08: Stoking controversy, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the population in the state would not get under control as women are not educated and men are careless.

“If women study, then the fertility rate will drop. This is the reality. Nowadays, women are not educated. A man does not keep in mind that he does not have to give birth every day,” CM Nitish Kumar said at a public meeting in Vaishali.

“Only when women are educated, the population growth rate will be arrested. It has still not decreased and the rate remains the same. Had women been better educated or had they been aware they would know how to protect themselves from getting pregnant. Men are not ready to consider the outcome of their action and as women are not properly educated they are unable to put their foot down and stop the population growth),” said Kumar.

Kumar’s former deputy and an erstwhile loyalist Sushil Kumar Modi issued a strongly worded statement accusing his ex-boss of having used a language that befitted the streets (‘sadak chhap’).

“It seems Nitish Kumar has lost his decency ever since he joined hands with the RJD. In the assembly, he is often seen using the disrespectful pronoun tum (you) for political opponents. His ‘jo piyega so marega’ (whoever drinks shall be doomed to die) was the height of insensitivity displayed in the aftermath of hooch tragedies,” alleged Modi.

State BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand, who is also the national general secretary of the party’s OBC Morcha, said the remarks of the chief minister were “sexist”.

“Of late, his words seem to be aimed at creating divisions in the society. Now, it looks like he wants to create tensions inside people’s homes. He must retract his statement and issue an apology,” Anand stated.

Former minister Samrat Chaudhary, who is the leader of the opposition in the legislative council, said “the utterances were unbecoming of a chief minister and can tarnish the reputation of the state”.

Leaders of the ruling ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in the state, comprising JD(U), the deputy CM’s RJD, Congress and the Left, seemed embarrassed to come on record over the controversy but, speaking on condition of anonymity, they insisted that the septugenarian chief minister was trying to create public awareness and the BJP was looking to gain political mileage out of a trifle.