The All India Democratic Women’s Association condemns the statement made by the Chief Minister of Haryana, M.L. Khattar that “people nowadays have started saying the route to Kashmir is cleared and now we will bring girls from Kashmir” for marriage. Not only is this statement in itself despicable, what is even more distressing is that it was made at an event connected to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in the State. Vijay Goel, another BJP Rajya Sabha MP, hung up a poster outside his house with a photo of a Kashmiri girl, with the comment that there is now a smile on her face because Article 370 has gone.
This is not the first statement made by BJP leaders targeting and objectifying Kashmiri women after the illegal and unconstitutional abrogation of Article 370. For example Vikram Saini, a BJP MLA from U.P said in a public meeting right after the abrogation that bachelors, in particular, were very happy because they could now get ‘gori’ Kashmiri girls and buy land in the Dal lake. This naked display of patriarchal aggression went viral, thus promoting a volley of sickening statements against Kashmiri women. The Sangh Parivar are using the situation to excite public sentiment against the targeted Muslim minorities, particularly through attacks on the women of these communities.
The earlier statement by a woman leader of the BJP women’s wing calling for the rape of Muslim women to teach the community a lesson, the open defense by BJP leaders and lawyers of the rapists and murderers in the Kathua case, and the deafening silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in all these cases including the current disgraceful statements about Kashmiri women, are all clear pointers to the reactionary, patriarchal, communal and Manuvadi mindset of the RSS-BJP.
The AIDWA demands strong action against Haryana Chief Minister M.L. Khattar and other legislators/ministers/office bearers of the BJP in different states for their shameful anti-women statements. The AIDWA urges all democratic forces and women’s organisations to unitedly oppose and expose the nefarious designs of the BJP government in Jammu & Kashmir.
