Samajwadi Party’s Maharashtra chief Abu Azmi on Tuesday said women should not forget that “security starts at home” and that partying late night is not in the Indian culture, when asked about the harassment incident in Bengaluru during New Year’s eve.

“Partying late night in half attire, blindly following western culture, has never been our culture. Ladies hailing from well-to-do families, be it from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan or UP, they come out in decent attire and mostly with their family members,” he said, when asked about alleged harassment of women in Bengaluru during the New Year eve.

“I am saying what happened is very unfortunate. Undoubtedly, making security arrangement to thwart any eventuality is police’s job. But, as far as Bengaluru molestation is concerned, women and their guardians must also take precautions and think that security starts at home. Our women must think about their own security themselves,” Azmi told news agency PTI.

The new year celebrations at MG Road and Brigade Road in Bengaluru had turned into a nightmare for several women who were allegedly molested despite heavy police presence, sparking widespread outrage.

“But when few women in half dress come out on streets at late night with their friends, such incidents do occur,” said Azmi, an MLA from Shivaji Nagar in suburban Mumbai.

“The women are pride of our family and country. Therefore, it is our duty to safeguard them. If we allow them to follow western culture blindly, then I am sorry to say that people will misbehave them in such ways,” the SP leader said.

Azmi also defended Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara who had stoked a controversy by blaming the youngsters’ westernized ways for the incidents.

“He (Parameshwara) said the harsh reality. These kind of things do happen when women try to copy the westerners, not only in their mindset but even in their dressing,” he said.

“If my sister or daughter goes out with another man to celebrate the New Year and her father or husband is not with them, do you think she will be safe? I don’t think so,” he told CNN-News18 in a separate interview.

The Samajwadi Party, however, has condemned Azmi’s statement. Samajwadi Party leader, Juhie Singh, while speaking to the channel said, “It’s really unfortunate that Azmi thinks like that. The party condemns it. He should apologise.”

According to eyewitness accounts, dozens of women were molested, groped and lewd remarks were passed by miscreants late night on December 31 in Bengaluru despite the presence of over 1,500 police personnel deployed to control the crowds.

Meanwhile, the National Commission of Women (NCW) Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam has come down heavily on the police and slammed Parameshwara’s remarks, demanding his resignation.

Incidentally, it is not the first time Azmi had made such remarks. Earlier this year, following the Jyoti Singh rape case, he had issued a similar statement,

“If you keep petrol and fire together then it will burn. There should be a law to ensure that there should be no ‘nangapan’. Those who wear less clothes should also be banned,” he had said.

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