Khattar’s remark on Kashmiri women: This is not first time Haryana CM said something sexist

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, while addressing a gathering during a programme celebrating Bet Bachao Beti Padhao campaign, inadvertently passed a misogynistic remark about Kashmiri women. While everyone else is debating the pros and cons of Article 370, ML Khattar decided to place the focus on Kashmiri women. Though there are some reports that say that Khattar was misquoted, the audio of the speech proves otherwise:

This is not the first time ML Khattar has managed to hit the headlines with something sexist. In 2018 he gave another insensitive and misogynistic remark about rape: “Sabse badi chinta yeh hai ki yeh ghatnayein jo hain rape aur Chhed chhad ki, 80-90% jankaro ke beech mein hoti hai. Kafi samay ke liye Ikhatte ghumte hain, ek din anban hogai, uss din utha karke FIR karwa dete hain ‘isne mujhe rape kiya’.”
ML Khattar, addressing a public gathering in 2018, said that women only file complaints of rape to get back at ex-boyfriends. He drew a lot of flak for such a sexist remark at that time too.

In 2014, Khattar was addressing a gathering during the election campaign when talking about the rising number of rape cases in India, he blamed girls for dressing inappropriately and said that if girls wear decent clothes they will not be raped.

“If a girl is dressed decently, a boy will not look at her in the wrong way," Khattar had said. When asked whether young people should have freedom of choice, he had replied, “If you want freedom, why don't they just roam around naked? Freedom has to be limited. These short clothes are western influences. Our country's tradition asks girls to dress decently.”

When asked about the role of Khap panchayats in promoting evils such as honour killing, he extended support to the Khap panchayats saying that they are only trying to preserve Indian culture and heritage.