NDA MPs slam SP silence over cleric's remark against Dimple Yadav

Time of India

2 days ago

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav
NEW DELHI : It was an unusual sight. Holding placards and shouting slogans, NDA MPs Monday staged a protest over All India Imam Association president Maulana Sajid Rashidi's objectionable remarks against opposition
Samajwadi Party
MP
Dimple Yadav
, with party chief Akhilesh Yadav criticising the cleric.
' Jo Lok Sabha mein pahen ke ayenge wohi humari har jagah dress ho gi (whatever I will wear to attend Lok Sabha, will be my dress for everywhere else),' Akhilesh said while responding to a media query over the issue.
MPs of governing NDA said the cleric's purported remark protesting against the SP MP for not fully covering herself during a recent visit to a mosque was an insult to women as a whole, and questioned the 'silence' of the opposition.
Dimple, however, was not impressed and said it's good that action is being taken now but it would have been better if similar protests and support had been visible when horrifying incidents like the one in Manipur came to light through footage on social media, she said.
In Lucknow, an FIR has been lodged based on a complaint by local resident Pravesh Yadav, who accused Rashidi of making 'extremely offensive, inflammatory, and anti-women remarks' that were 'derogatory and misogynistic' and aimed at 'inciting religious disharmony & communal tension'.
Talking to reporters, LJP (R) MP Shambhavi Choudhary said that for NDA, the honour and prestige of women is of utmost priority.
Maulana Rashid had purportedly made misogynistic comments against Dimple in a TV debate and had praised another SP MP, Iqra Hasan, who had covered her head inside the mosque. The comments led to condemnation on social media and from women MPs, including BJP's Bansuri Swaraj and Congress's Renuka Chowdhury.
The NDA MPs, especially women members, held a protest near Makar Dwar in the Parliament House complex, raising slogans like ' Nari shakti ka apman, nahin sahega Hindustan '.
Swaraj called the remarks 'deeply shameful' and 'unacceptable'. 'Does opposition agree with this indecent remark? It is deeply shameful that such an offensive and inappropriate comment has been made against asitting MP...,' she said.
She accused the opposition of prioritising 'appeasement politics' over women's dignity and affirmed that the NDA would continue to raise its voice for every woman, including Dimple Yadav.