NCW summons Ashutosh for blog defending tainted minister

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday issued summons to AAP leader Ashutosh for his blog in defence of sacked AAP minister Sandeep Kumar,

NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday issued summons to AAP leader Ashutosh for his blog in defence of sacked AAP minister Sandeep Kumar, who was arrested on charges of rape.

HT Image

Ashutosh in a blog had referred to the reported relationships of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru with women to defend Kumar over the “objectionable” CD showing him in a compromising position with two women. Ashutosh claimed that he was sacked as a minister for “perception management”.

The NCW, mandated under law to protect and promote the interest of women across India, has summoned Ashutosh to its office on September 8.

NCW chairperson Lalita Kumaramangalam has described Ashutosh’s blog as “demeaning” and “reprehensible”.

“We have taken note in the larger interest because we feel that as a spokesperson of a party, which governs Delhi and a party whose members have been accused of many incidents of violence against women, he should not be writing a blog like this which reeks of patriarchy and misogyny,” Kumaramangalam said.

The NCW chairperson said that despite the police taking cognizance of the incident immediately, it was reprehensible that Ashutosh “jumped the gun” to defend Kumar. “There was no shroud on what action the police had taken. Jumping the gun is also a sign of patriarchy in our country,” she said.

POLICE COMPLAINTS

Two police complaints were also registered against Ashutosh, AAP’s spokesperson, on Monday.

Earlier, a complaint was filed against him at the Sakinaka police station in Mumbai on Sunday by Akhilesh Tiwari for “insulting” people of the country by referring to icons like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru while defending Kumar.

The first among the latest police complaints was filed by Subodh Jain, an RTI activist and former journalist at Jyoti Nagar police station in northeast Delhi. Jain has requested police to send Ashutosh for a “mental check up” and register a case against him under relevant sections of law.

“We have received the complaint against Ashutosh and it is being looked into for further action. No case has been registered so far,” said a senior police officer.

Late Monday evening, another complaint was filed against Ashutosh, a former journalist, at the Khajuri Khas police station.

The complaint, filed by a BJP worker, accused Ashutosh of defaming Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.