KR Ramesh Kumar's 'enjoy rape' shocker: Karnataka women leaders demand Congress to sack former Speaker
The insensitive and outrageous remark of 'enjoy rape when inevitable' made by senior Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar at the Karnataka assembly on Thursday (December 16) has sparked a massive furore across the nation.
FollowThe insensitive and outrageous remark of 'enjoy rape when inevitable' made by senior Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar at the Karnataka assembly on Thursday (December 16) has sparked a massive furore across the nation. Although the Congress leader apologised and expressed regret over his statement today, women leaders across the country and Karnataka are livid by the former state assembly speaker's comment. Insisting action against KR Ramesh Kumar, Karnataka women leaders demanded that Congress party sack him immediately.
Expressing anger over KR Ramesh Kumar's comment, Union Minister Shoba Karandlaje said she was hurt that a senior leader had made such an insensitive remark in the Karnataka assembly. Noting that being an elected representative of the state and not just the Srinivasapura assembly, Karandlaje added, "He should have thought about his family before making such comments. Even if he has women in the family, they would also be hurt by such words. He is in a responsible position. What kind of message is he giving to the public?"
"I am angered by his comment. He should apologise, and the Congress party should sack him," the MoS for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare added.
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Earlier today, Union Woman and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani termed KR Ramesh Kumar's sexist comment "shameful". Also, she dared the Congress party to expel the legislator from the party. In a veiled attack at Priyanka Gandhi Vara, Smriti Irani added, "The Congress leadership in Uttar Pradesh always says that she is a girl and she can fight, expel the leader if you have courage."
KR Ramesh Kumar's shocking comment has also irked women Congress legislators in Karnataka. Dr Anjali Nimbalkar, Congress MLA, expressed shock over the former Speaker's remarks and demanded an apology from the Karnataka house to women of India.
"I strongly condemn yesterday's behaviour of the House on a comment and a serious issue like rape. I demand an apology from the House, and such a word should not be used as an analogue to any of these incidents happening. If We as lawmakers should behave responsibly in the House and the entire House should apologise to the women of the nation," Nimbalkar stated.
Meanwhile, Roopa Sashidhar, Congress MLA from KGF, said that in the last assembly session, all women MLAs requested the House not to use this word (rape) in any circumstances and not quote the word for any examples also. "I am unhappy with the senior-most leaders for repeatedly using the same word and making comparisons. They don't know what she (rape victim) undergoes. She has suffered throughout her life and has never overcome that frustration. Why don't you understand the pain of the incident?" Sashidhar added.
On Thursday, when the Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri wanted to wrap up the sitting by 6 pm, several lawmakers wanted more time to speak on the issue of crop loss. The Speaker had said, "I am in a situation where I have to enjoy and say 'yes, yes'. That's it. This is what I feel,"
To this, KR Ramesh Kumar remarked, "See, there is a saying. When rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it. That's exactly the position in which you are."
This is, however, not the first time that the senior Congress MLA has landed himself in a soup over an offensive comment on rape. In February 2019, Ramesh Kumar drew another analogy with rape when lawmakers repeatedly mentioned his name during a discussion on an audio clip released by then CM HD Kumaraswamy.
Ramesh Kumar, who was the assembly speaker at that time, had said, "My situation has become like that of a rape victim. The rape happened just once, and had you left it; it would have passed. But when a complaint is made and the accused is put in jail, his lawyers or others like Eshwarappa (then just a legislator and now BJP minister) probe on how it happened, the time and how many times."
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