The Punjab Women Commission chairperson is in soup for alleged remarks about daughters-in-law responsible for the break-up of the joint family system. Ms Paramjit Kaur Landran, who happens to be chairperson of Punjab Women Commission, kicked up a row by her recent statement with several women’s organisations demanding her resignation.
The alleged remarks were made by Ms Landran at a function held in Jalandhar recently. She observed that “earlier all members of a family used to live in a joint family, but now this system was disintegrating and leading to conflict within the members of the family. Women were not paying attention to their fathers-in-law and even their husbands and were given to making caustic comments against them. Modern girls tended to lose patience quickly, which was leading to the break-up of joint family system. They were unable to bridge even minor difference of opinions with husbands and mothers-in-law and preferred to stay separately”.
This has led to a storm of protests from many women organisations in the state. President of Janwadi Istri Sabha Surinder Kaur said that the main function of the Women Commission was to prevent excesses being committed on daughters-in-law, but it appears that the chairperson of the Women Commission is unaware of this problem. She is a member of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the views being expressed by her run counter to the Sikh tenets. It is shameful that such a person has been appointed as chairperson of the commission because as long as she is there women’s interests cannot be safeguarded.
Meanwhile, Paramjit Kaur Landran blamed the media for distorting her comments leading to the unnecessary controversy.