Bihar Woman Minister's Moral Policing Comment On Jamui Incident Triggers Controversy

Patna: BJP leader and Bihar industries minister Shreyasi Singh, who courted controversy after her comments on moral policing against the Jamui molestation incident, moved into damage control mode by pleading that her words were taken out of context.

While talking to the media, Singh said that it was unfortunate certain remarks were being selectively presented and taken out of context.  

The clip, which has gone viral, was part of a longer interview conducted while she was in the midst of an official meeting, she added.

“The questions asked, the sequence of the discussion and my repeated assertion that such incidents would not be tolerated clearly reflect my position,” Singh said.

Singh courted controversy after a clip from a television interview surfaced on Monday in which she said “moral policing” could be done in a “more decent and elegant fashion,” but the way a boy and girl were “mishandled” and “mistreated” was “absolutely not tolerable”.

She, who is the BJP MLA from Jamui, said people could have an opinion about how others chose to live their lives, but “maybe there is a better way” to express it. She said the interview should be understood “in its entirety, rather than on the basis of isolated statements”. She said that while others focused on public statements, she and chief minister Samrat Choudhary were communicating with the district administration and monitoring the situation.

Her remarks drew a sharp response from RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who shared the clip on X on Tuesday and alleged that Singh was suggesting that “moral policing” should be carried out in a “respectful manner”.

“Does this mean BJP ministers in the NDA government now want incidents of harassment, sexual assault, drug trafficking, murder and rape in the name of ‘moral policing’ to be carried out in a ‘respectful’ and supposedly ‘sattvik’ manner?” he asked, while sarcastically remarking that Singh should give “tuition” on moral policing.