Manohar Lal Khattar (left) and Rahul Gandhi. Manohar Lal Khattar (left) and Rahul Gandhi.

Slamming Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for his alleged comment on “getting brides from Kashmir”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Saturday termed the remark ‘despicable’ while claiming that his comments were a reflection of “what years of RSS training does to the mind of a weak, insecure and pathetic man”.

Rahul took to Twitter to condemn Khattar’s remark: “Haryana CM, Khattar’s comment on Kashmiri women is despicable and shows what years of RSS training does to the mind of a weak, insecure and pathetic man. Women are not assets to be owned by men,” Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, Khattar tweeted a video clip from the rally and called on the Congress leader to not react to ‘distorted news’. “Dear @RahulGandhi ji, at least at your level, you shouldn’t react to distorted news. I’m attaching the video of what I actually said, and In what context – this will give you clarity of mind,” he wrote.

Dear @RahulGandhi ji, at least at your level, you shouldn’t react on distorted news. I’m attaching the video of what I actually said, and In what context – this will give you clarity of mind. https://t.co/TCjhV0cuiO pic.twitter.com/GfD3SWlETI — Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) August 10, 2019

In the one-minute video, the Haryana CM is heard talking about the improvement in the sex ratio in the state and called it a big change for the society. Khattar mentions a comment made by minister O P Dhankar in 2014 about getting brides from Bihar for the youth of Haryana.

“Our minister Dhankhar ji used to say that we will have to bring daughters-in-law from Bihar if the number of girls reduces and the number of boys increases. Now people say that since Kashmir is open, we can bring girls from there. Jokes apart, if there is a good (sex) ratio, the balance in the society will be set right,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

Khattar, during a rally in Haryana’s Fatehabad Friday allegedly commented that people from Haryana “could now get brides from Kashmir”, referring to the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The DCW demanded to file an FIR against Khattar for his ‘sexist comments. In a statement issued by the panel said: “Their acts and remarks not only amount to outraging the modesty and denting the dignity of Kashmiri daughters and sisters but has also impacted women and girls all over the country.”

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma Saturday said she would seek an explanation from Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for his remarks that “some people are now saying that as Kashmir is open, brides will be brought from there”. “Why their imagination ends at women and their complexion and looks? How they open their big mouth and give these stupid remarks for women? Why people choose them to power? I certainly will ask for his explanation,” she said in a tweet, without naming anyone.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too criticised Khattar’s remark and said people holding high office should restrain from making insensitive comments about people of Jammu and Kashmir. Without naming Khattar, Banerjee in a tweet said, “We, and more so people holding high public office, must restrain ourselves from making insensitive comments about the beloved people of Jammu and Kashmir. These are hurtful, not only for J&K, but the entire nation.”

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