Dr. Mohan Madhukar Bhagawat is the sixth Sarsa...

Dr. Mohan Madhukar Bhagawat is the sixth Sarsanghachalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sunday, January 06, 2013, 10:13

New Delhi: After creating a huge uproar by his remarks that rapes are rampant in India not Bharat, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has kicked-off a fresh controversy by saying that women should restrict themselves to household work and satisfy their husband.According to a CNN-IBN report, Bhagwat, while addressing a gathering in Indore, said that a man and his wife are bound by a contract and a woman’s duty is to take care of household tasks and a husband should earn and look after his wife.

IBN quoted RSS chief as saying, “There is a theory of social contract in the universe. A husband and a wife are bound by a contract which says – you (woman) look after the household chores and satisfy me, I (man) will take care of your needs and will protect you. Till she delivers her duties without fail, he keeps her on the contract and if she fails to honour the contract, he disowns her. And if it is the husband who is not honouring the contract, she can also abandon him. One can go for a new contract then.”

The controversial remarks comes two days after the RSS chief said, “Such crimes (rapes) hardly take place in ‘Bharat’, but they occur frequently in ‘India’.” Bhagwat had said this while he was speaking on the issues concerning women.

The ageing chief of the right-wing Hindu organisation also blamed the western culture and the excessive urbanisation for rising crimes against women.

During his speech, Bhagwat had said that those living in urban India are highly influenced with the ‘western’ lifestyle and culture and this could be one of the reasons for increasing crimes against women.

However, he said that there is no erosion of moral values among those living in the rural India. 

“You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gang-rape or sex crimes. They are prevalent in some urban belts. Besides new legislations, Indian ethos and attitude towards women should be revisited in the context of ancient Indian values,” Bhagwat was quoted as saying by the media.

Reacting to the Bhagwat’s remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had put up a brave defence, saying the statement should be seen in the proper context and he was referring to India’s culture, tradition and value system.

“The present controversy relating to certain comments of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is totally uncalled for and unnecessary. His comments are required to be seen and understood in entirety. He was referring to India’s sanskar, tradition and value system where respect for women occupies a pride of place,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad had said.