BJP’s National General Secretary CT Ravi has defended the remarks about women made by Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar, who had lamented that “modern Indian women” prefer to stay single and do not want to give birth. CT Ravi said that Sudhakar's comments are not about “all Indian women” but there are some “educated women and women who are doing jobs in IT who have such a mindset.”
"All women are not like that,” CT Ravi said, speaking in Hindi with news agency ANI when asked about Sudhakar’s remarks, which were criticised from all fronts. “(There are) some women, who are educated, those who are doing jobs, particularly in IT — this mindset has increased in them. Not all women are like that. This is something to think about. This is happening because of increased western influence and because of micro families. This is a serious matter and it is necessary to think about it. But not all women are like this. Today too, faith in family is more in our country. Our country is not like the US or England. We need to think about this." Watch CT Ravi's remarks below:
#WATCH | Every woman is not like this... It is happening because of western influence and micro families. In India, we still have faith in family unlike countries such as USA & UK: BJP General Secretary leader CT Ravi on Karnataka Minister K Sudhakar's statement on women pic.twitter.com/JppXi4yaUo
— ANI (@ANI) October 11, 2021
During an event to mark World Mental Health Day at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS) on Sunday, Sudhakar had said, "Today, I am sorry to say this, lots of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don't want to give birth. They want surrogacy. So there is a paradigm shift in our thinking, which is not good." Sudhakar’s remarks were criticised heavily on social media. Several womens' organisations, activists and journalists called it ‘sexist, patriarchal and inappropriate.’ Many people called him out for criticising women who exercise their choice, on the pretext of them leaning towards “western culture” or being “modern”.
Then Minister Sudhakar issued a clarification, saying that his remark was taken out of context and that he had no intention of singling out women. He added that what he meant was that the “Indian family value system can address the mental health issues that we are facing today.”