Minister calls himself tiger; women tigresses
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BHOPAL: Call it the influence of Salman Khan starrer 'Ek tha Tiger,' a Madhya Pradesh
minister, accused by the Congress of being in an inebriated state, got
into a controversy comparing himself to a tiger while addressing the women attending a government function as 'tigresses'.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon at the official function, organised by the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation on the occasion of the World Tourism Day. The venue was one of the city's best known hotels where the government had invited delegates to promote tourism. Women delegates were honoured with seats in the front row. Some of the women threw questions at tourism department heads inquiring about the facilities available for tourists at heritage spots.
Getting up to address the gathering, minister for tourism and sports Tukoji Rao Puar pointed his finger straight at a woman, who had asked several questions, and said: "You are a tigress.'' Then, he pointed his finger at all the women and added: "You are all tigresses and your tiger is here. I am your tiger.'' The buzzing hall suddenly fell silent as the audience was aghast with the minister's innuendo.
Soon after the programme, reporters rushed to the minister for his explanation on the tiger-tigress statement. Puar, a scion of the royal family of Dewas, said: "Yes, I said it in English. Many people cannot understand Hindi so I told them in English."
The state Congress took the incident as an insult to women. "The minister was attending a government function in intoxicated state. He purposely uses an objectionable metaphor to dishonour the women attending the function,'' state Congress spokesman Manak Agarwal said. "Will the government please explain what the minister meant by that observation? Why call delegates to a function and humiliate women this way? We demand that the minister apologise for the statement."
This is not the first time that Puar has been embroiled in a dispute. Before the November 2008 assembly elections in the state, Puar was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a woman returning officer. Puar was arrested after sub-divisional magistrate Sanjana Jain lodged a complaint alleging the minister had obstructed official work and threatened her over an election-related dispute. Puar was caught on camera having a heated argument with the woman SDM and throwing a bunch of papers at her.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon at the official function, organised by the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation on the occasion of the World Tourism Day. The venue was one of the city's best known hotels where the government had invited delegates to promote tourism. Women delegates were honoured with seats in the front row. Some of the women threw questions at tourism department heads inquiring about the facilities available for tourists at heritage spots.
Getting up to address the gathering, minister for tourism and sports Tukoji Rao Puar pointed his finger straight at a woman, who had asked several questions, and said: "You are a tigress.'' Then, he pointed his finger at all the women and added: "You are all tigresses and your tiger is here. I am your tiger.'' The buzzing hall suddenly fell silent as the audience was aghast with the minister's innuendo.
Soon after the programme, reporters rushed to the minister for his explanation on the tiger-tigress statement. Puar, a scion of the royal family of Dewas, said: "Yes, I said it in English. Many people cannot understand Hindi so I told them in English."
The state Congress took the incident as an insult to women. "The minister was attending a government function in intoxicated state. He purposely uses an objectionable metaphor to dishonour the women attending the function,'' state Congress spokesman Manak Agarwal said. "Will the government please explain what the minister meant by that observation? Why call delegates to a function and humiliate women this way? We demand that the minister apologise for the statement."
This is not the first time that Puar has been embroiled in a dispute. Before the November 2008 assembly elections in the state, Puar was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a woman returning officer. Puar was arrested after sub-divisional magistrate Sanjana Jain lodged a complaint alleging the minister had obstructed official work and threatened her over an election-related dispute. Puar was caught on camera having a heated argument with the woman SDM and throwing a bunch of papers at her.
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