From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Updated

Bengaluru, Jan 5: "My comments had nothing to do with molestation. I did not speak about molestation nor Westernised culture. How did the media latch on to that?" asked Karnataka’s Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters in the wake of the media attack on his alleged insensitive remarks in connection with the incidents of molestation of young girls during the New Year celebrations on Mahatma Gandhi Road-Brigade Road and later on another incident wherein a young girl was molested near Kammanahalli, Dr Parameshwara clarified that he spoke about the incidents on New Year’s eve when a television channel reporter met him and asked for his reaction.

''It had nothing to do with Westernised culture. The remarks referred to the incident, it was not about dress or molestation," Dr Parameshwara said.

Dr Parameshwara said he was extremely pained that his statement was interpreted out of context.

''I am extremely pained by the fact that my statement with respect to the alleged molestation incident on the New Year Day has been interpreted out of context and not taken in its entirety," he said.

''This all started from January 2. Is there a hidden agenda? I don't know," he said.

"The Kammanahalli incident was unfortunate. Kannadigas do not behave in this manner," the minister said.

Dr Parameshwara asserted that he was committed to protection of women and was not the kind of a person who treats women lightly or in a different sense but respects them as everyone hails from that kind of culture in which women are respected, loved and honoured.

The Home Minister said: ''I have full respect for women. I have sisters, my mother, my wife and I am not such a person to treat women in a different sense. We all respect our families and womenfolk. We come from that kind of a culture. We never see them in a different sense."

He wondered if there was an ''hidden agenda" to tarnish his image and brand Bengaluru besides discrediting the Congress government in Karnataka.

As reports of the horrific incidents of alleged molestation of several women on MG Road and Brigade Road during New Year revelry came to light triggering national outrage, Dr Parameshwara said he had talked about the ''Western ways" of youngsters, which came under scathing attack from different quarters.

''Youngsters behave almost like Westerners and try to copy the Westerners not only in the mindset but even the dressing and drinking, which was not in keeping with Indian ethos and culture was what I had said," he clarified and was surprised to find the twist and turns in the media discussions.

''I never even mentioned the word molestation. I don't how this whole thing took a different turn, which altogether gave an impression that I made a statement that molestation happens everytime, which was absolutely wrong," he said and was at a loss to explain how the words that he did not utter were attributed to him and even the national media channels took it blindly holding panel discussions and devoted prime time.

''The choice of every citizen of our country should be respected. Women have equal rights, respect and protection under the Constitution," he asserted.

National Commission for Women Chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam had slammed Dr Parameshwara's remarks and demanded that he should resign. The NCW as well as the Karnataka State Commission for Women also sought separate reports from administration and police over the incidents.

The Home Minister said he would reply to the notices served by the NCW. He would also reply to a notice sent by Delhi Women's Rights Commission but not before examining whether any State has the power to send such a notice to a minister of another state.

He also said the police are working round-the-clock on the footage culled from the CCTV cameras in the area to identify the culprits and deal with them strictly in accordance with the law.

Referring to the Kamanahalli molestation case, the minister said the police have already some leads and the culprits would be brought to book. By afternoon, police had already taken four youngsters into custody based on the CCTV footage provided by Prashant Francis, a resident of Kammanahalli, who had installed CCTV cameras outside his house to check theft.

The Kammanahalli incident should not have happened. Police has already registered an FIR. We will bring those culprits to the book. We will not spare them, he said.

In the Kammanahalli incident, a woman was groped and assaulted by two scooter-borne men near her home with the shocking incident caught on camera.