Uttarakhand Congress chief spokesman Garima Mehra Dasani condemns Harbhajan Singh Cheema, a former Uttarakhand BJP MP. He recently blamed women’s clothes for the rise in crimes against them. According to Dasani, this kind of statement by Cheema represents backward thinking and fails to condemn either law enforcement or society’s perception of women.
“The question on dress was very wrong he raised. What should the minor girls who are raped and murdered every day in Uttarakhand wear? Instead of advising young people to respect women, he placed the entire blame on women. But the police aren’t blamed; neither is it a perverted mental attitude but all blame goes to women,” Dasani stated.
The comment enraged many with Dasoni demanding an apology from him as well as withdrawal of his remarks. In his controversial statement, Chima said that he was concerned about the increasing cases of crimes against women and girls. While addressing it, he admitted that some factors could be attributed to western dressing among females. “Another thing that contributes to more crimes is adoption of western clothing by ladies. Women must dress according to Indian culture and tradition,” he said.
Dasani termed Cheema’s statement as “inexcusable” and stressed the need to change social attitudes. She believes such comments perpetuate a harmful mentality that holds women responsible for crimes against them, rather than addressing the root causes of these problems. This congress Leaders accused the PPP of promoting a mentality that hinders women’s progress and development.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2022 report, Uttarakhand has recorded most number of rape cases involving woman and children amongst nine Himalayan states including Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya states Mizoram Nagaland Sikkim Tripura two Union Territories (UTs) Jammu & Kashmir (J& K), Ladakh Ladakh.
The report shows that a total of 4,337 cases of crime against women were reported in Uttarakhand last year, 907 more than in 2021, followed by J&K with 3,716 cases and Himachal Pradesh being third with 1,551 case.
