A day after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s remarks about the role of women’s education in population control created widespread furore, he apologised for his comments and said that he meant no disrespect to women.
While talking to the media outside the Bihar Assembly, he also offered to “take back” his words if they had caused offence.
Kumar said, “I take back my words. I said it just like that. My words were misconstrued. I was talking about women’s education. If anyone has been hurt by my words, I apologise.”
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The remarks on Tuesday were made as he explained why Bihar’s fertility rate has dropped from 4.2 to 2.9 per cent, but the language was slammed as “shameful”, and “vulgar” by the BJP and National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma.
As the row over the comments gathered pace yesterday, Nitish Kumar was defended by his deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, who claimed the Chief Minister he was talking about sex education in schools.
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“Let me clarify something… whatever the chief minister said was about sex education. People become hesitant over this topic… but it is taught in schools. He said what needs to be done practically to control the population. This should not be taken in a wrong manner…” Tejashwi Yadav said.