National Commission for Women Chairperson Rekha Sharma sparked controversy on social media after the body’s official Twitter handle posted that she met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Tuesday, 20 October, and discussed “rise in love jihad cases.”
According to news agency PTI, Sharma spoke to the governor about the distinction between consensual inter-faith marriages and “love jihad.”
The NCW post comes after the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government admitted in Parliament just as recently as February 2020 that there was “no evidence” of such a thing called “love jihad.”
Sharma was appointed as the chairperson of the women’s body in August 2015.
‘What on Earth is Love Jihad?’
All India Progressive Women’s Association Secretary Kavita Krishnan demanded Sharma’s resignation and said that she no longer had to right to hold the post.
#SackRekhaSharma was trending on Twitter since Tuesday evening.
“Any case in which a Muslim man and Hindu woman are in love? How dare you remain in your chair as NCW India chief and use a term that a) treats women as property of communities b) hates Muslims? You bring shame to NCW,” Krishnan tweeted.
Senior journalist Nidhi Razdan, among many others, questioned her appointment as the NCW chief in first place.
Other handles questioned whom does Sharma “really serve” and that it can’t be women – as the term “love jihad” vilifies women and the Muslim community.
Sharma’s Misogynistic Tweets Surface
As the NCW’s controversial post went viral, social media users dug out old and misogynistic tweets posted by her since 2012. In these past tweets, Sharma was seen “endorsing rape” as punishment as well as making anti-women jokes.
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Responding to the old tweets that surfaced, Sharma said that she did not use Twitter in 2012. However, her Twitter handle showed that she joined the platform as early as 2009.
NCW Chair Restricts Her Account, Netizens Call for Action
While Sharma restricted access to her Twitter handle later in the night, social activist Saket Gokhale asked if the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare will take action against the NCW chief for both raising “love jihad” and past tweets.
Youth Congress took a dig at the BJP saying that the party endorsed a misogynist for NCW chief.
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