On 8th November (Wednesday), a complaint was lodged against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a Muzaffarpur court over his contentious remarks on population control made a day earlier, triggering a massive outrage. A lawyer named Anil Kumar Singh has filed the complaint before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Muzaffarpur and the matter is listed to be heard on 25th November.
Bihar | Complaint lodged at the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Muzaffarpur against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the derogatory language used by him to explain the role of education and the role of women in population control in the State Assembly yesterday. Matter to be… pic.twitter.com/fQ6qYjgBc0
— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2023
Speaking with India Today, Lawyer Anil Kumar Singh said that while he was in his chamber, he saw on social media that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made inappropriate remarks regarding boys and girls. He said, “As a result, a complaint has been filed against him today in the Muzaffarpur District Court. The date for the hearing has been set for November 25.”
Notably, Bihar CM made the contentious remarks yesterday on 7th November while addressing the state legislative assembly. After tabling the detailed report of the caste census conducted in the state, he made controversial remarks that created an uproar in the assembly.
To lay emphasis on female literature in controlling the population, the CM suggested that if the women are educated, they will ask their male partners to use the withdrawal method while having sex. He claimed that as the women are not uneducated, they are not aware of this method and therefore getting pregnant. He said, “When men and women get married, the men’ do it’ every night, especially in winter. If the girl is educated, she will not let him ejaculate inside. She will make him ejaculate outside. So eventually, the population will come down.”
He went further in using unparliamentary language and vulgar gestures to explain his position while addressing the legislative council.
When the JDU leader made these remarks in the Bihar Assembly, most of the ruling party MLAs were laughing while the women MLAs felt embarrassed. However, several opposition leaders and woman MLAs strongly objected to his remarks and demanded that he apologise and resign from his Chief Ministerial post.
However, amid widespread criticism, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav came out in support of Nitish Kumar’s controversial remarks on population control. He said, “It is wrong to misinterpret (CM’s remarks). His statement was regarding sex education, which people feel shy and hesitant to talk about. Biology is taught in schools. What he meant to say was about how to control the population.”
In his first response to the controversy, PM Modi lashed out at the I.N.D.I. Alliance leader Nitish Kumar over his derogatory remarks against women in relation to population control. He stressed that crass words were uttered in the Bihar assembly and there was “no shame”. However, while addressing an election rally, PM Modi did not name Nitish Kumar, he referred to his remarks made a day earlier.
Meanwhile, when the controversy escalated, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar came out in public pretending to apologise for his vulgar remarks given inside the assembly. Speaking to the media, he said, “I said something in the Assembly, and there is so much criticism over it. If what I said was wrong, I apologise for it. I take back my words. If someone is criticising me, I take back my words and apologise for it. If someone keeps criticising it, I facilitate them.”
It is notable that the withdrawal method or coitus interruptus is the least effective method of birth control, and is not recommended. The government of India have been promoting other methods such as condoms, pills, intrauterine device (copper-T), sterilisation etc as reliable methods of family planning for several decades.
