Guwahati, Apr 30 (PTI) The opposition Congress on Wednesday burnt an effigy of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma here for his alleged derogatory remarks against women and wrote to the National Commission for Women (NCW) seeking action against the BJP leader.
Sarma, during a panchayat election rally recently, had mentioned a witness statement from the report of the Justice (Retd) B K Sharma commission on irregularities in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) examinations for 2013 and 2014, when Congress was in power.
He had said the witness’ statement maintained that women “had to adopt a wrong path” to get jobs during the Congress regime.
Condemning the chief minister’s remarks, state Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur Goswami said, “It is a direct insult to all women of the state. Such a statement is not acceptable.” Mahila Congress workers burnt an effigy of the chief minister in front of the state party headquarters here, raising slogans against Sarma.
Goswami, in a letter to the NCW chairperson, wrote, “… that the Assam Chief Minister has made a dangerous revelation. He claims that during the previous 15-year (2001-15) rule of the Congress government in Assam, women used to get government jobs by … .” She urged the NCW to seek a CBI enquiry into the matter.
Goswami said that Sarma was part of the Congress government for 15 years and maintained he should be asked why he had “kept quiet while being a part of the previous government.” Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah directed all district heads to file police complaints against Sarma by Thursday if he did not apologise for his ‘derogatory’ statement.
Borah, in a post on X on Tuesday, had maintained that Sarma has “cast aspersions” on lakhs of women government employees.
Sarma had on Tuesday defended his remarks and said that he was quoting from the report of Justice (Retd) B K Sharma commission.
“The entire thing is mentioned in the report and I am quoting from it. If Bhupen Borah has a problem with it, he should approach Justice (Retd) B K Sharma,” he said. PTI SSG SSG RG
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