Says it’s against country’s ethos
THE SAMAJWADI Party (SP) today assailed the Congress-led UPA Government for legislating the Domestic Violence Act. The party said the law was against ethos of the country.
Talking to newsmen here on Monday, SP general secretary Beni Prasad Verma said the act would lead to ‘domestic’ unrest in the country. He accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi of getting the Bill passed and added that she was not aware of the country’s family composition.
Significantly, for the first the SP criticized the Act, which has been largely welcomed in the country.
Verma said, “Ghar mein ab koi kuch kahi nahin sakta (nobody could say anything in home)”. He added that the fear of being hauled up in the court would haunt Indian homes.
Referring to the UPA Government plan to bring the controversial Women Reservation Bill for passage in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, Verma said the party was opposed to the Bill in its present form.
He said the Bill was brought during the NDA regime but the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had put it on backburner, as he knew about the social composition in the country. He said the Bill was against the interest of the Dalits, backward and minority communities.
{{/usCountry}}He said the Bill was brought during the NDA regime but the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had put it on backburner, as he knew about the social composition in the country. He said the Bill was against the interest of the Dalits, backward and minority communities.
{{/usCountry}}He said instead of reserving the Lok Sabha/assembly seats political parties should have legal binding to reserve 33 per cent tickets for women. He said the party would oppose the Bill in the House.
Verma said BSP president Mayawati had insulted Muslims by calling them ‘fanatics’. He said it was an insult to Muslim freedom fighters also.
Verma, however, refused to comment on Mayawati’s call to her cadre to beat the effigies of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav with ‘lathis’ (sticks) before setting it afire on November 30 during the Statewide stir. Verma said junior party functionaries would react to this.
Verma claimed that vote percentage of the party had gone up in the civic elections in the State. He said results were not a referendum on the performance of the State Government.mhasan@hindustantimes.com