Maneka Gandhi on hostel deadlines: Two Bihari gentlemen at gate with dandas not enough to ensure security, Lakshman Rekha necessary
New Delhi, March 7: Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has been an activist of sorts for women empowerment. In a recent interview, Maneka Gandhi spoke on deadlines in hostels for girls and said that these deadlines were necessary not just for girls, but for boys. However, while speaking during this interview with NDTV, Maneka Gandhi may have made a racist comment when she said that ‘Bihari men standing with dandas cannot ensure security’. When Maneka Gandhi was asked whether tightening security at women’s colleges can be a solution, Maneka Gandhi said, “No, not by two Bihari gentlemen at gate with dandas (sticks). It has to be solved literally by giving time limits for everything. Give them (boys) two nights to go to the library and two nights for girls – if you want to go to library, that is.” Gandhi said this during an interview with NDTV regarding International Women’s Day.
Maneka Gandhi also said that the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ in hostels was necessary as young boys and girls have ‘hormonal outbursts’. “As a parent who’s sending a daughter to a college – or a son – I would expect her and him to be protected. And perhaps one of the protections is against themselves. When you are 16 or 17 you are also hormonally very challenged. So to protect you from your own hormonal outbursts, perhaps a lakshman rekha is drawn. It really is for your own safety,” Gandhi said.
When questioned as to why boys must get special treatment in this case, Gandhi said, “Yes, so maybe the same deadlines should be there for both boys and girls… Why should the boys be allowed to wander about in the campus after 6’o-clock? Let them also stay in and do their work.”
Maneka Gandhi has been working towards women empowerment aggressively since she took over as the Women and Child Development Minister. Last year, Gandhi announced setting up of a compensation fund under the Nirbhaya scheme to help children who are victims of sexual assault.
