The Opposition Congress on Wednesday wrote to the National Commission for Women seeking action against chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for alleging that women had to compromise their chastity to secure government jobs during the previous Congress regime.

The Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress also staged an hour-long protest at the Rajiv Bhavan in Guwahati, burning Sarma’s effigy after he failed to apologise for his statement within the 24-hour deadline set by the state Congress on Tuesday.

The Mahila Congress moved the National Commission for Women (NCW) seeking a CBI inquiry into the chief minister’s “derogatory” statement.

Sarma had made the controversial remark in Darrang district on Monday while campaigning for the panchayat polls, scheduled for May 2 and May 7. Campaigning for the polls concluded on Wednesday.

The party’s women wing has now called for a state-wide dharna by its district units on Thursday.

The Assam Congress has also directed all its district presidents to file police complaints against the chief minister for his “derogatory, deeply offensive and disrespectful” comment alleging women of having to “compromise their chastity to secure government jobs” under the former Congress government led by Tarun Gogoi.

In a letter to the NCW, Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur said the chief
minister’s “revelation has caused massive outrage among women in Assam, even by those who do not hold government jobs” while requesting “the NCW to seek an immediate CBI investigation”.

Borthakur has also urged the NCW to summon Sarma and question why he remained silent when he was part of the Congress government.

“Isn’t he guilty by association? If the chief minister is lying, he should be given the highest punishment, including being asked to resign from his post. But if the revelation is true, he should be punished for hiding a heinous crime for so long. In any case, the women of Assam seek justice from the NCW,”
Borthakur urged, adding that legal action would be considered subsequently.

Sarma reaction

Chief minister Sarma reiterated on Wednesday that he was quoting from the report of the Justice (retd) Biplab Kumar Sharma inquiry commission into the APSC recruitment scam case, not expressing a personal view.