Women academics appeal Amit Shah to initiate action against Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for referring President Murmu as 'Rashtrapatni'

New Delhi [India], August 1 : A group of Women Public Servants (retired), Intellectuals and Academicians on Monday sent an open letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking action as per the law against Congress Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for referring President Droupadi Murmu as 'Rashtrapatni' as this would ensure that such sexist and outrageous behaviour is never repeated.
The letter sent to the Home Minister was signed by 51 Women Public Servants (retired), Intellectuals and Academicians, stating that every patriotic citizen of India has felt anguished and furious over this kind of insult shown to a Female Head of the entire Indian Nation.
"Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha since June 2019 sparked a massive controversy by referring to Droupadi Murmu, the President of India as 'Rashtrapatni'. The sensibilities of every single Parliamentarian were outraged. Every patriotic citizen of India has felt anguished and furious over this kind of insult shown to a Female Head of the entire Indian Nation. We normally use expressions- Rashtrapati, Senapati, Sabhapati, etc. It is totally unacceptable if a lady was holding any of these positions she would be described as Rashtrapatni, Senapatni, Sabhapatni, etc," the letter stated.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury triggered massive outrage by the BJP after his 'Rashtrapatni' remark, which the Congress leader said was a "slip of tongue as not very good at Hindi." However, the BJP had demanded an apology from Chowdhury along with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Responding to the BJP's demand for an apology from Chowdhury, the group said, "MPs belonging to different political parties have demanded an unconditional apology for demeaning the President, who is the first tribal lady and also from a poor family to get elected as the President of India."
The letter further stated that from calling President Murmu a "puppet" and a "symbol of evil," Congress has been 'maliciously" attacking the President ever since she was fielded as an NDA nominee for the presidential elections.
"The President of India is the Head of State of the Republic of India. The President is the first citizen of the country, as well as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Smt. Droupadi Murmu is the 15th and current president, having taken the oath of office on 25 July 2022. The Indian Constitution accords to the President the responsibility and authority to defend and protect the Constitution of India and its rule of law," the letter reads.
Highlighting the Constitutional rights of Tribal, the group said that the purpose of the SC/STs Act was to prevent atrocities and help in the social inclusion of weaker sections into society.
"In 1989, the Government of India enacted the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in order to prevent atrocities against SC/STs. The purpose of the Act was to prevent atrocities and help in the social inclusion of the weaker section into society. Under this Act, several things have been declared as a punishable offences. One such offence includes deliberately insulting and humiliating in public view a citizen of India from a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. Clearly, Adhir Ranjan Choudhary has insulted and humiliated Droupadi Murmu, India's first President from Tribal Community, in full public view," they said.
They said that the Congress leader's offence is punishable under Sections 354 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
"In fact, the offence becomes much graver because it is against our Head of State. While Mr Adhir Ranjan Choudhary deserves to be punished by the courts for this deliberate sexist insult to the respected female President of India, he should also be made to publicly apologise to all Indian women," the letter said.
They further said that the National Commission for Women (NCW) and 13 State Commissions for women have issued a joint statement, saying Chowdhury's remark was deeply insulting, sexist and constituted an attempt to humiliate the President of India.
"In view of the above, it is our appeal to the Home Minister to initiate appropriate action against him as per law. This would ensure that such sexist and outrageous behaviour is never repeated," they added.
The controversial remark of Chowdhury led to a conflict between the BJP and Congress in Parliament. The BJP also claimed that Sonia Gandhi allegedly shouted at Smrti Irani after the Union minister reportedly intervened as the Congress interim president was speaking to BJP MP Rama Devi.
Notably, Chowdhury issued a written apology to President Murmu over his 'Rashtrapatni' remark which caused a political furore across the country.
In a letter addressed to the President, the Congress leader expressed his 'regret for having mistakenly used the word to describe the position.' "I assure you it was a slip of tongue. I apologise and request you to accept the same," Chowdhury wrote in the letter.