Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s controversial comments about Kashmiri women on Friday, 9 August, at a Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in Fatehabad, led to sharp criticism from leaders across the parties, like Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee.
Khattar was addressing the sex ratio in his state. The controversy was exacerbated by ANI’s clip of the speech which left out the part of a sentence that suggested it was a ‘joke’.
“On the topic of sex ratio, Haryana’s sex ratio used to be around 800-something women per 1,000 men. We’ve increased this to 930+ per thousand men. Earlier OP Dhankar used to say that we’ll have to bring girls from Bihar to fix the sex ratio, and some people are now saying that we can bring girls from Kashmir as well. (scattered laughs from audience) – jokes apart (mazaak ki baat alaghai), we may even exceed this ratio, but fixing the sex ratio is a subject that the state takes very seriously.”Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister, Haryana
The Confusion
The comment comes days after the Narendra-Modi led government effectively revoked Article 370, which granted the special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
ANI posted a video of Khattar with the above mentioned lines, except that in its clip, the words “Jokes apart (mazaak ki baat alag hai)” were cut out. It is this clipped video that generated much of the outrage online.
Meanwhile, the fuller version of the video with the “jokes apart” line also did the rounds to counter the clipped version.
On Saturday, ANI deleted the previous article which did not contain the full translation of his remarks, and posted a new one with the translation.
Rahul, Mamata, Mayawati Slam Khattar
Hours after both the versions of the video circulated online, political leaders criticised Khattar for his callous remarks. Gandhi called his comments, “despicable.”
Banerjee said that a person who holds such a high rank “must refrain” from passing such comments.
Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief and former UP CM Mayawati in a tweet in Hindi said, "The BSP strongly condemns the mean mentality and indecency shown by the chief minister of Haryana towards Kashmiri sisters and daughters after abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP top leadership needs to take cognizance of such anti-women acts and initiate immediate action."
Khattar Counters the Accusations
Reacting to the criticism, the chief minister accused the media of "running a misleading and factually incorrect campaign" against him and shared on Twitter the full video of the event.
“Daughters are our pride. The daughters of entire country are our daughters,” Khattar tweeted while clarifying his position.
He also attacked Gandhi and advised him not to be so quick in believing “distorted news.” In a following tweet, Khattar took a dig at Gandhi and said “Weak, insecure, pathetic” are adjectives used for Congress’ President.
The controversy is compounded when one remembers that just four days ago, BJP MLA from Muzaffarnagar, Vikram Saini, stated that the party workers were excited over the effective abrogation of Article 370 as it would now enable them to marry gori (fair) Kashmiri girls.
“The Muslim workers should celebrate here. Get married there to a fair Kashmiri girl. There should be celebrations. Everyone should celebrate, be it Hindu or Muslims. This is something the entire country should be celebrating.”Vikram Saini, BJP MLA
Twitter Weighs In
A Twitter user from Haryana tweeted the clipped ANI video, saying “I feel ashamed that Manohar Lal Khattar represents their state,” while another shared the full version, calling ANI’s clipped video “vicious propaganda.”
Background
Sentiments around the government’s decision to effectively abrogate Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir are raw. The reason behind the controversy around BJP leaders talking about marrying Kashmiri women, is this:
Under the scrapped Article 35A of the Constitution, a woman who is a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, would lose her property rights and the status of a state subject if she married a person from outside the state. The provision also extended to the children of such women. This provision is now gone.
The perception is that some quarters are using ‘Kashmiri women’ as a stand-in for ‘Kashmiri land’.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)