Karnataka Minister K Sudhakar's remarks on women raised a controversy
A Karnataka minister whose bizarre comment on women at an event yesterday led to widespread criticism on social media has clarified on his remarks. State Health Minister K Sudhakar had said many Indian women do not want to get married or plan to have children, in what was seen as a highly objectionable judgment on gender, especially coming from a public representative.
Mr Sudhakar today said his remarks were taken out of context and only a small part of the speech was shared on social media, news agency ANI reported. He asked people to watch the whole video, adding his comments were based on findings of a survey by YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey.
"The findings of YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey shows that, among millennials, 19 per cent aren't interested in either children or marriage. Another 8 per cent want children but are not interested in marriage. Among post-millennials, 23 per cent aren't interested in either children or marriage. As in the case of millennials, 8 per cent want children but are not interested in marriage. There are very little gender-wise differences in these trends. It is applicable to both boys and girls," Mr Sudhakar said.
The Karnataka Health Minister, however, pressed on with his take that following the "western way" is harmful for Indians. "The only point I was trying to convey was that our youth can find solution and solace to mental health issues in our traditional family and its value system which offers a wonderful support system. I had no intention to single out women nor did my words mean so," Mr Sudhakar said today.
On Sunday, the state Health Minister at an event in NIMHANS in Bengaluru had said, "I am sorry to say this, lots of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don't want to give birth. They want surrogacy. So there is a paradigm shift in our thinking, which is not good... We are going in a Western way, we don't want our parents to live with us."
His remarks were criticised by many on social media, some of whom pointed out that even in a joint family system there are people who have mental health issues and the system can overpower an individual into submission into taking decisions that may not be beneficial for the person.
With inputs from ANI