DMK leader Saidai Sadiq’s unparliamentary remarks against women-BJP leaders have sparked a major controversy in Tamil Nadu. On Saturday, October 29, Tamil Nadu Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Annamalai wrote to National Commission of Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma seeking her immediate intervention against the derogatory remarks made by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK spokesperson Saidai Sadiq about women actors-turned-BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP leader lambasted the regional party, accusing them of hiring people versed in offensive languages as stage speakers. Annamalai called the NCW chief’s attention in his letter to how DMK leaders have constantly objectified women in the opposition party.
“The DMK men have made it a habit of throwing filth at them. Even the senior leaders of DMK occupying the stage would laugh at this language and not stop the men from throwing this filth. I think we have taken enough!” wrote the BJP leader, highlighting the recent incident where DMK spokesperson Saidai Sadiq mocked Khushbu Sundar and three other BJP leaders like actor Namitha, Gayathri Raghuram and Gautami by calling them “items” (a derogatory way of referring to women).
The BJP leader then chastised DMK Minister Thiru Mano Thangaraj for failing to speak up against his colleagues’ misogynistic and sexist behaviour despite being there at the time.
Calling the DMK spokesperson a ‘repeat offender’ the BJP leader said, “Recently, the Honourable Mumbal High Court sentenced a man to one and a half years in prison for calling a girl an “Item” We humbly request the NCW to take due cognisance of this matter and instruct the Tamil Nadu state police department to immediately reprimand Saidhai Sadik, a repeat offender and a person known to have used derogatory language against women in the past Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mahila Morcha has filed a complaint against Saidai Sadik in the police commissioner’s office today. Many complaints against DMK men have been lying in various police stations across Tamil Nadu since they came to power.”
Annamalai added that while the DMK and its allies condone such behaviour, the Bharatiya Janata Party firmly opposes it, and the action against Saidhai Sadhik will serve as a lesson to those who believe they can degrade women and get away with it.
It may be recalled that the entire controversy erupted after a video clip surfaced on social media platforms, wherein DMK spokesperson identified as Saidai Sadiq mocked Khushbu Sundar and three other BJP leaders like actor Namitha, Gayathri Raghuram and Gautami by calling them “items” (a derogatory way of referring to women). The DMK leader was speaking at a public meeting held by the party leaders to thank Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for getting reelected as DMK leader for the second time.
In his speech, Saidai Sadiq made a sexual innuendo about Khushbu while talking about the time when she was a member of the DMK. He could be heard saying the saffron party depended only on these “actresses” to make inroads into Tamil Nadu.
Following the outrage, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) women’s wing secretary and MP Kanimozhi took to Twitter on October 27 to apologise for the unparliamentary remarks made by her party’s spokesperson Saidai Sadiq about women actors-turned-BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu.