Jaitya Party Chairman Hussain Mohammed Ershad has branded women as showpieces, citing that they (women) were helpless outside their houses.
Participating in the budget discussion on Monday, the former autocratic ruler said: “We repeatedly talk about women empowerment. We often mention that our prime minister is a woman, deputy leader is a woman, speaker is a woman and the opposition leader is also a woman.
“But all of them are showpieces.”
After branding women as showpieces, the special envoy to the prime minister faced a strong protest.
Female lawmakers, especially the MPs from reserved seats, started speaking in a loud pitch.
Ershad however continued amid protest: “Women are helpless when they step outside their houses. This situation is prevailing everywhere. They [women] are so frightened that they even cannot visit the Shaheed Minar alone.”
At one stage, he was compelled to withdraw the “indecent comment on women.”
Later, the Speaker of the House expunged the word.
In the beginning of her budget speech, Leader of the Opposition in the National Parliament Rawshan Ershad, also the wife of the JaPa chief, apologised for her husband's comment.
Rawshan said: “Probably his [Ershad] choice of word was not right. I am sorry from my heart for this.”
