Muzaffarnagar:
A politician from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) believes that women should not be given mobile phones.
Rajpal Singh Saini, who represents his party in the Rajya Sabha, declared. "I say this in every speech. Do not give mobile phones to children, especially girls. What work of theirs will stop if they do not have mobile phones? Our mothers and sisters did not have mobile phones; did they die because of it?"
Mr Saini said at a meeting of his party workers in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh that he had offered the same advice to a father whose daughter had eloped.
However, Mr Saini, told the media later that his remarks had been reported out of context.
"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," he said.
In July this year, a panchayat in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh had said women below 40 should not be allowed to visit local markets unescorted, or use mobile phones when outside their homes.