Women in India outraged over Chief Nitish Kumar's comments about women controlling sex

The women’s wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of India expressed rage after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar spoke publicly of women learning how to control sex. Their collective outrage stemmed from Kumar’s comments, in which he delved into the intricate relationship between women’s education and population control.

According to The Hindu, during an Assembly debate on Tuesday, Kumar said, “The fertility rate in the State has come down from 4.3% to 2.9% due to the education of women. An educated woman is able to ensure that sex does not necessarily end in pregnancy, which helps keep the population in check.”

Although the statement was meant to be an accolade, BJP female activists gathered in Lucknow to emphatically denounce Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s contentious statements by burning a doll in his likeness, branding Kumar’s comments as “derogatory” and “vulgar.”

Despite later issuing an apology, Nitish Kumar found himself in the midst of political turmoil as his own party’s Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), once his allies, demanded his immediate resignation. The use of an unmentionable word in his remarks fired up the rage of female BJP legislators.

BJP MLA Gayatri Devi stated, “The Chief Minister, over 70, made nonsensical remarks. He used a word we cannot even utter. We will protest against this.”

Nitish Kumar’s comments drew widespread condemnation. The BJP’s women’s wing workers in Lucknow condemned them as disgraceful and a national indignity.

An outspoken BJP leader, Jaya Shukla, boldly declared, “Nitish Kumar’s statement is an affront to women across the country, and he has stooped so low for his political interests. No leader within his circle has condemned this. Similar statements were made by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who claimed that boys make mistakes. Nitish Kumar should not only apologize but also resign from his post.”

The controversy’s magnitude skyrocketed further when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the stage in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna. He delivered an abusive denunciation of Nitish Kumar’s controversial remarks, questioning the silence of the opposition on this matter.

PM Modi emphasized that those espousing derogatory views towards women were essentially affronting the very essence of the nation.