Lucknow, Aug 1 (PTI) A large number of women, wielding tricolour and saffron flags, placards and rolling pins, marched in Sarojini Nagar here on Friday against a cleric’s alleged derogatory remarks against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav’s attire.
The march, organised by BJP MLA Rajeshwar Singh as part of a protest march named ‘Shakti ka Shankhnaad’, focused on the theme ‘Nari Samman Hi Rashtra Samman Hai’.
The protest was in response to Maulana Sajid Rashidi’s controversial comments on the attire of Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, during her recent visit to a mosque, and what the participants termed the “silence” of the opposition leaders on the issue.
Addressing the gathering, MLA Singh said that the “insult to women’s dignity is an attack on the nation”.
“In India, our women are not weak; they are a living symbol of creation, values and culture. Those who insult our traditions and women’s dignity are not servants of the nation. Whether it’s the Maulana’s remarks or the opposition’s silence, this is not just ideological poverty; it is anti-national,” Singh declared.
Attacking those who mock Indian culture and traditional attire like the saree, the MLA called them “cowards with a soulless and valueless mentality”. Singh said the protest was against a political culture that sacrifices “women’s honour for appeasement”.
“India is the land of warrior queens like Rani Lakshmibai, Veerangana Uda Devi and Devi Ahilyabai Holkar, and this land will never be afraid of fatwas,” he said.
Singh drew a parallel to the Taliban’s actions in Afghanistan, where, he said, 1.5 million girls were denied education. “Today, the same mindset is trying to raise its head in India, but our daughters are now flying Rafale jets and leading Chandrayaan missions. India will not remain silent,” he said.
He ended with a retort, saying, “If the Maulana doesn’t like women’s sarees, should we say we don’t like your beard? Mother and motherland are greater than heaven for us, and we will never tolerate their insult.” In a recent television debate, Rashidi allegedly made inappropriate comments on Dimple Yadav’s attire when she visited a mosque in Delhi. An FIR was registered against Rashidi on Sunday.
BJP MLC and the party’s state general secretary, Subhash Yaduvansh, put up posters attacking Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Tuesday for his “silence” on the Muslim cleric’s inappropriate remarks targeting his wife, and asking him how he would provide security to women in Uttar Pradesh. PTI CDN KSS KSS
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