With boyfriend? Abu Azmi's out to get you

MUMBAI: Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Abu Azmi is the latest to join the Delhi gangrape foot-in-mouth bandwagon. On Tuesday, the MLA advised girls to avoid the streets after sundown. He also came out in support of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement that rape does not occur in the villages because women there dress properly. Later, after an avalanche of criticism, his son apologized on his behalf, but by then the damage had been done.
"One can conduct a survey to verify (Bhagwat's statement)," Azmi told journalists. "Girls should not be out with their boyfriends when it is late in the night. A system is needed to keep in check such behaviour."
Taking a dig at the censor board for allowing "obscene scenes", he said it approved movies that one could not watch with family members. "Women with a rural background should be appointed as the censor board's head to get rid of such issues," he said.
Azmi is in a long line of politicians who are out of their depth in the issue. Last month, President Paranab Mukherjee's son Abhijeet (a Congress MP) sparked controversy by calling those agitating against the gangrape "pretty women, highly dented and painted".
A BJP minister from Madhya Pradesh said women must not cross their "Laxman rekha". A BJP minister from Chhattisgarh blamed the rape on planetary and stellar positions.
Late on Tuesday evening, Azmi's son Farhan said, "I and my father apologize for his statement. Our family, including (Azmi), does not support or endorse Bhagwat's statement. Our family believes in freedom for girls."
The SP distanced itself from Azmi's remarks, which, its spokesperson said, constituted "personal opinion".
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