A day after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar stoked controversy with his 'lighter remark' on 'Kashmiri girls,' ace wrestler Babita Phogat on Saturday backed him saying that there was nothing "offensive in his statement".
"Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has not made any such statement that is offensive to our sisters and daughters. I urge media to not misinterpret his statement," Arjuna awardee Babita said while replying to a journalist on Twitter.
The journalist sought Phogat's sisters' response on Khattar's remark, where he said on a 'lighter note' that Haryana can now get brides from Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, under which Kashmiri women used to lose property rights if they marry a person from outside Jammu and Kashmir.
"How I wish my Phogat sisters, who have inspired a generation of young women, would actually 'wrestle' with the feudal and patriarchal men of their state who think Kashmiri women r cattle they can just bring for their men! Will they speak up?" the journalist asked on Twitter.
Khattar is being targetted by the opposition parties, including the Congress party leaders for his statement. Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Chief Minister calling him an "insecure and pathetic man".
"Haryana CM, Khattar's comment on Kashmiri women is despicable and shows what years of RSS training does to the mind of a weak, insecure and pathetic man. Women are not assets to be owned by men," Gandhi tweeted.
Reacting to Rahul's tweet, Khattar said: "Dear Rahul Gandhi ji, at least at your level, you shouldn't react on distorted news. I'm attaching the video of what I actually said, and In what context - this will give you clarity of mind."
Chief Minister Khattar is not new to courting controversies. Last year, he had made some objectionable remarks over rape incidents.
"The biggest concern is that in 80 to 90 per cent of rape and eve-teasing cases, the accused and the victim know each other. In many cases, they know each other for a long time and. On one day, when there is an argument (between them over some issue)... an FIR is lodged, saying he has raped me," Khattar had said in November last year.
( With inputs from ANI )