IAS officer asks female MPs to also think about Manipur women after flying kiss row in LS

Bhopal: A senior female IAS officer in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday asked women MPs protesting against alleged “indecent behaviour” by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi inside Parliament to also think how women in Manipur felt, apparently referring to a video of sexual assault in the violence-hit state.

IAS officer Shailbala Martin wrote in Hindi on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Jara sochiye Manipur ki Mahilaon ko kaisa mahsoos hua hoga” (just think how Manipur women felt).

The Madhya Pradesh cadre bureaucrat is currently posted as additional secretary in the general administration department at Mantralaya (state secretariat) in Bhopal.

Along with her remark, Martin posted a letter addressed to the Lok Sabha Speaker over Gandhi’s behaviour in the House and signed by several women MPs.

After participating in the debate on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Gandhi blew a flying kiss, drawing sharp reactions from the treasury benches with Union minister Smriti Irani calling him misogynist and saying the House had never witnessed such an “indecent act”.

Irani took on the Wayanad MP and expressed outrage over his “indecent gesture”.

“The person who spoke before me… an indecent gesture was made… only a misogynistic man can give a flying kiss to Parliament which seats female Members of Parliament… such an indecent act has not been witnessed by the House ever before. The entire country has seen the culture of the (Gandhi) family,” said the BJP MP from Amethi.

In a complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker, signed by more than 20 women parliamentarians, it was alleged Gandhi behaved in an “indecent manner” which not only “insulted the dignity of women members in the House, but also brought disrepute and lowered the dignity of this august House”.

Martin was not available for comment on her tweet.

A video showing two women being paraded naked and molested by a group of men on May 4 in Kangpokpi district of Manipur had surfaced on July 19, attracting condemnation countrywide.