Now, people 'can bring brides from Kashmir': Haryana CM Khattar stokes controversy

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has courted a controversy with his remarks that people of  Haryana are saying that they "can now get brides from Kashmir", apparently in a reference to the scrapping of the special status for Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.

"There can be problems if the number of girls are lesser than boys. Our (O P) Dhankarji had said that they (brides) will have to be brought from Bihar. Now some people say, Kashmir is open, they (brides) will be brought from there. But jokes apart, the question is if (sex) ratio is right, then there will be a right balance in society," Khattar said at an event at Fatehabad on Friday. 

Notably, Dhankar in 2014 had said that he would bring brides from Bihar for youths of Haryana if they were unable to find a match in the state, which was infamous for its skewed sex ratio. 

The CM further said, "The ratio of girls was 850 against per 1,000 boys. We made several programmes like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao. Do you know Haryana was infamous for killing the girl child, but we ran a campaign and the gender ratio has improved from 850 to 933. It was a big work in the direction of bringing a change in society."

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee  Saturday criticised her Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar's remark on Kashmiri girls and said people holding high office should restrain from making insensitive comments about people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Without naming Khattar, Banerjee in a tweet said, "We, and more so people holding high public office, must restrain ourselves from making insensitive comments about the beloved people of Jammu and Kashmir. These are hurtful, not only for J&K, but the entire nation."

Outgoing Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday described Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's remarks on Kashmiri women as "despicable", saying that it reflected what years of RSS training does to the mind of an insecure man.

"Haryana Chief Minister 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.

"Earlier 'bahus' used to come from Bihar but now we will bring girls from Kashmir," he added.

The comment has triggered widespread controversy.

Rahul was joined by the head of Congress' Women wing, Sushmita Deb who went to say that Khattar was mentally ill.

"Khattar is mentally ill, it is beyond my imagination that a Chief Minister can utter such words.

"Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah must fire Khattar from the post of Chief Minister," she added.

She said said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government's ambitious 'Beti bachao, beti padhao' programme was launched from Haryana's Panipat.

Three days ago, Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar BJP MLA Vikram Saini had said that party workers were excited over the scrapping of Article 370 as it would now enable them to marry 'gori' (fair) Kashmiri girls.