Yogi Ji, Women Protesting on the Streets is Not a Matter of Shame

UP CM has said that it is shameful for men of Shaheen Bagh to sleep under the quilt and make women sit on roads.

Mr CM, women have fronted protests for centuries.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Video Editor: Varun Sharma, Ashutosh Bhardwaj

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath believes that women don't have a mind of their own and so they should stay at home. You don't believe me? This is what he has said.

"Now what have they done? They have started making the women sit on roads. The children have been made to protest. It’s a crime that the men are sleeping under the quilt and the women are made to sit on roads. It is shameful."

Yogi Adityanath, UP CM

Yogi ji, are you trying to say that women only do as they are told by the men in the house? Are you trying to say that the women of Shaheen Bagh who are protesting against CAA for more than a month are doing so at the command of the men in the house? Are women not capable of taking their own decisions? When you say that women don't understand what CAA is, are you trying to say that women are not educated enough to know what CAA is?

The Quint spoke to the women of Shaheen Bagh who have become a symbol of protests against CAA to know if they really know what CAA is.

"He (Yogi Adityanath) has said that we don’t know what CAA is. They say CAA is about giving citizenship, not taking away citizenship. But you are taking away our citizenship, you are asking us to show our documents. How will we show old documents? You want to give citizenship to Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh? What about Muslims from these countries?"

Saira Bano, Homemaker

You claim that the men are staying at home, but the same Shaheen Bagh is proving you wrong.

"Let him (Yogi Adityanath) just come here and see things for himself. Men are also sitting with us, not just women alone."

Waheedan, Resident of Shaheen Bagh

You say it is shameful for the women to hit the streets. But this is what the same women of Shaheen Bagh have to say to you.

"Do we not know what’s in store for us? Let him think about his own fate. There is no need to be concerned about us. We have been fighting for our rights and will continue to do so."

Kahkasha Riyaz, Student, Jamia Millia Islamia

Why do you look down upon women? What do you have to say about your own government's Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman? Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Founder and Chairperson of Biocon is a woman. Did you forget Deepika Padukone, whose one visit to JNU shook your entire party? You didn't recall the name of Captain Tania Shergill that made the nation proud. She led the all-men contingent on Army Day. There are countless stories of valour of India's daughters. Women have fronted worldwide protests for centuries. But you refuse to accept any of it. And this is not the first time that you have demeaned women.

The day you came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, your anti-women stand was out in the open. Your website had several anti-women articles. These articles were full of several other misogynistic statements.These articles were later taken down following opposition. It was expected that as the chief minister of the state you would be more responsible when making statements. But your recent speech proved that your anti-women mindset hasn’t changed.

You said that women sitting on the roads and protesting is shameful. Is it because of this misogynistic mindset that in 2017-18, maximum cases of crime against women were reported in UP. We are not the ones claiming this. This is what the NCRB data is saying. Is it because of this misogynistic mindset that out of the nearly 300 BJP MLAs from UP, only a handful of women are ministers in your state.

Essentially, you want women to stay behind their veils and when hundreds of women are out on the streets in Shaheen Bagh it is troubling you and forcing you to make such sexist remarks.