It sounds extremely bizarre in this age but when it comes to politicians, nothing is impossible. BSP MP Rajpal Saini has now launched a tirade against mobile phones and has publicly declared that women and children do not need mobile phones. Mr Saini is Rajya Sabha MP from BSP, whose president, Mayaw-ati, is also a woman and uses a mobile phone.
“Mobile phones only serve to distract them and have no utility for them. Besides, why do women need mobile phones? Our mothers, sisters and wives did not have mobile phones but they did not die because of it. If they could survive without mobile phones, why can’t women now?” he said at a public function in Muzaffarnagar.
When asked to explain his statement later, Rajpal Saini said that mobile phones should only be used in emergency services or by politicians who need to remain connected all through the day.
“What I am saying is that students should not be given mobile phones. It is the age to study, and mobile phones are a distraction. Due to mobile phones, they lose their way and do not focus on their studies. Why do housewives and school going girls need mobiles? It encourages them to make futile small talk and get connected with people outside their homes,” he said. It may be recalled that a Khap panchayat in Baghpat in July this year, had also banned love marriages and barred women below 40 years from going out for shopping and using mobile phones.
More recently, Jitender Chhataar, a khap leader recently had asked youngsters to refrain from eating junk food like chowmein and momos which, he claimed, led to hormonal disturbance and increased sex drive.
He explained that men experience hormonal imbalances when they eat chowmein and momos and then they commit rape. Another khap panchayat member suggested that the marriageable age for girls should be reduced to 16 years and blamed movies and television for the spurt in rape cases. “I believe this is happening because our youth are being badly influenced by cinema and television. I think that girls should be married at the age of 16, so that they have their husbands for their sexual needs, and they don’t need to go elsewhere. This way rapes will not occur,” Sube Singh, khap leader had said.