“In
India, I don’t think any woman here is dictated what to wear, how to wear, whom
to meet, when to meet….I am of the opinion, I don’t think anybody is dictated
here, you are not told,” she said while interacting with New York-based
journalist Tina Brown at an event here.
As
many from the gathering vociferously disagreed with the Minister’s remarks,
Brown drew her attention to it.
Putting
up a brave front, Irani retorted, “Are you told? I am sorry. I am not. My
apologies ladies.”
Trying
to justify her remarks, Irani said she didn't hail from a celebrity family; but
an absolutely lower middle class family who told her to determine her own
future.
The
minister, however, admitted that there were challenges which everyone had to
face
She
contended that countries around the world have to face push and pulls. She said
that there were statements even in countries like the US in which students were
urged not to wear provocative Halloween costumes and also for others to respect
other’s right to wear what they wanted to.
It
would be naive to assume that problems like domestic abuse and female feticide
are more in rural areas and less in urban areas, she said while noting that a
prosperous area like South Mumbai has a high rate of female feticide.
Asked
about the raging debate on intolerance, Irani said that “India is aware of its
challenges but is also proficient in handling those challenges through rule of
law.”
She emphasized
that the country is secular where oath, even at the highest level, is taken on
Constitution and not any religious book.
Irani
was asked by Brown about her earlier criticism of Narendra Modi and what made
her change her stance later.
“I
think I am a living example of Mr Modi’s capacity to forgive. I am a living
example of Mr Modi’s capacity to reckoned talent and to reason,” Irani said.
She
said that in 2004 when Modi met her, he told her to not to judge him through
newspapers articles but by his work.
