Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar on Friday apologized to all women of Karnataka after his party senior leader K R Ramesh Kumar’s ‘joke’ about rape in the state Assembly on Thursday.
Shivakumar tweeted that he is “deeply saddened” over Kumar’s comments. “To all the women of Karnataka, I am sorry and I will ensure words like these are never repeated.”
Former Speaker Kumar issued an apology on the floor of Karnataka Assembly on Friday.
“While we note that the legislator has tendered an apology, the incident in the assembly is a sign that all of us men in politics need to do better to shed our inherent regressive attitudes towards women,” the KPCC President added.
Shivakumar also said that the party MLA’s “insensitive remarks against women” are contrary to the values of gender equality that the Congress champions.
Congress MLA Anjali Nimbalkar demanded that the entire state Assembly to apologise for the such comments.
Nimbalkar told Deccan Herald newspaper that women legislators from the Congress wanted to raise the issue in the Assembly and protest the incident. However, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri denied their request.
She said, “Elected representatives are forgetting the pain of the victims when the word ‘rape’ is used lightly. We wanted to raise the issue as none of the women legislators was present when the statement was made,” according to the newspaper.
Moments after Kumar’s apology, Muzrai Minister Shashikala Jolle rose to speak further, but Speaker Kageri did not permit her.
