Samajwadi Party chief Abu Azmi's family embarrassed by his views

Samajwadi Partyrsquos state chief Abu Azmi is receiving brickbats from all quarters for his regressive and biased statements that women who have a physical relationship with a man should be punished by death The party leader had said this in reaction to party head Mulayam Singh Yadavrsquos statement about rape in which he had said death penalty for rape was ldquounfairrdquo as ldquoboys make mistakesrdquoApology enough Azmi called this reporter and said his statements about punishing women for having sex without consent was a lsquoslip of tonguersquo Actress Ayesha Takia tweeted that she and her husband didnrsquot share her fatherinlawrsquos views File picsAzmi had told midday that ldquokoi bhi ladki shaadishuda ho vivhahit ho ya avivahit ho agar kisi ladke ke saath apni marzi se ya bagair marzi se jaati hai toh bhi phaansi honi chahiyerdquo Any girl whether married or unmarried who has sex with a man with or without her consent should be hanged to death Azmi had also maintained that both the man and the woman should be sent to the gallows in a rape case and that rape was punishable by death in IslamReacting to these statements Azmirsquos daughter inlaw actress Ayesha Takia wrote on Twitter yesterday ldquoIf what I am reading about my fatherinlawrsquos statement is true then Farhan and I are deeply embarrassed and ashamed Itrsquos disrespectful to women If these statements are true then itrsquos sadrdquomiddays report published on April 12th Please click here or on the image above to read the full articleFarhan who is SPrsquos Lok Sabha candidate from Mumbai North Central tweeted ldquoObjectionable Condemnable Embarrassedrdquo He then went on to add ldquoAn apology will certainly not hurt Taking the higher ground will only impress the people of India I urge my leaders to apologise for hurting sentiments These statements only show the generation gap between the youth and our senior leaders Every party household and society is fighting thisrdquoSocial activists also lodged official complaints with the National Commission for Women NCW and the Election Commission of India ECIRanjana Kumari womenrsquos rights activist said ldquoThe Samajwadi Party is emerging as a party which is totally against women and their upliftment It is shameful that they are justifying rape Abu Azmirsquos comments were also highly derogatoryrdquoldquoNot only are Azmirsquos statements sexist offensive and morally repugnant but they are also in flagrant violation of various provisions of the Indian Penal Code 1860 including sections 504 insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace 505 statements promoting public mischief and 509 word gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of Peoplersquos Act 1951 which prohibits promotion of enmity between classes and sections for reaping electoral gainsrdquo said activist Shehzad Poonawala who filed the complaintHe further added ldquoThey demonstrate the patriarchal mindset of the Samajwadi Party which runs contrary to the narrative of womenrsquos empowerment and equal justice set out in the Indian Constitution and international conventions to which India is party It also demonstrates the absolute insensitivity of Azmi to the overwhelming outpouring of public sentiment on the issue of womenrsquos rights postDecember 2012 after the brutal gang rape in DelhirdquoAll India Womenrsquos Congress AIWC president Shobha Oza said ldquoIt is very unfortunate that they talk in such an insensitive manner on grave issues like rape One should abstain from handling issues of such heinous crimes in such a mannerrdquo Oza saidBJPrsquos state treasurer Shaina NC held a press conference and said that SPrsquos leaders were in need of sex education ldquoThe women of Maharashtra should boycott all candidates of Samajwadi Party and teach them a lesson and show them that women are not going to take these statements lying lowrdquo said Shaina NC mdash Inputs from agencies