Gurugram: BJP MP Ram Chander Jangra is in the eye of a storm over his unsavoury remarks in the Rajya Sabha on nurses, with the Nursing Welfare Association lodging a formal complaint with the Haryana State Commission for Women at Panchkula.
The association condemned the remarks as an affront to the dignity of nurses and an example of gender insensitivity.
In the House Monday, Jangra recounted an anecdote saying: “A man in Haryana fell ill and was lying in bed in a hospital, experiencing discomfort. A young, beautiful nurse came in, held his hand, and asked ‘uncle, what’s troubling you?’ The patient replied, ‘just keep holding my hand and I won’t have any discomfort’. In the same vein, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji, keep holding our hand, then we will have no trouble.”
Speaking to ThePrint Wednesday, Veenita Kumari, state president of the Haryana Nursing Welfare Association who approached the state commission for women Tuesday with a complaint against the Rajya Sabha MP, said that unless Jangra sought a clear and public apology for his comments, her association would fight for action against him.
The complaint to the commission, which ThePrint has accessed, states: “A video of Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra has gone viral where he is seen making indecent and obscene comments on nurses.
“The Nursing Welfare Association, Haryana, condemns this, as the MP’s statement amounts to defaming nurses and their profession. We demand stern action against Jangra, including unseating him from Rajya Sabha. We also want a public apology from him. If the commission doesn’t proceed against Jangra, the association will take recourse to courts.”
Referring to a video message that Jangra posted on Facebook Tuesday in which he sought to clarify his words, Kumari said he had not actually expressed any regret about his remarks and had instead given a twist to his meaning.
In the video message, Jangra says: “I see god in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I believe he has been holding the hand of the poor… in the same manner, doctors are seen as an incarnation of god and nurses are an even bigger embodiment of god. I said what I said in this context only. Those who see obscenity in my statement are in fact looking at it with a small mind. I am an MP and I understand the dignity of a parliamentarian. Even after this, if someone is hurt, I apologise. But don’t make this an issue.”
Sunita, state president of Nursing Officers’ Welfare Association, told ThePrint that while all right-thinking people would condemn the BJP MP’s conduct, what surprised her the most was the fact that some of those elected to sit in Parliament didn’t even realise that nurses had families and children too who heard Jangra’s remarks.
“How will he react when similar comments are made about his own beti aur bahu (daughter and daughter-in-law)? How will the children of his beti aur bahu react?” she asked.
“I respect Jangra for his age but he doesn’t deserve to be in the position he holds because of his attitude towards women,” she added.
Jagmati Sangwan, vice-president of All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), said the comments by BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP reflected that he saw women as objects.
“This only shows that although Jangra has become an MP, his attitude towards half of the population of the country is contemptuous and his sense of humour is misogynist,” she alleged.
Sangwan demanded that the Rajya Sabha chairman should take cognisance of Jangra’s comments and take stern action so that an impression doesn’t go among women that Parliament is complicit. She told ThePrint that the AIDWA would submit a memorandum to the Rajya Sabha chairman in this regard very soon.
Congress’ Haryana MLA Geeta Bhukkal also condemned Jangra’s remarks, saying that the BJP MP insulted all nurses, women and the entire state of Haryana while standing in Parliament. “He should apologise for his anti-women and anti-Haryana mindset, and the BJP should take immediate action against such a leader,” Bhukkal said, speaking to journalists in Jhajjar, and added that the profession of nursing was sacred.
She further pointed out that BJP MP Biplab Deb had previously termed Haryanvis as “dim-witted” and former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had described people of the state as “weak above the shoulders”. This clearly indicates that BJP leaders have a similar mentality towards the people of Haryana, Bhukkal said.
When contacted by ThePrint Wednesday, Jangra said he had so far not received any intimation of the Nursing Welfare Association’s complaint against him. Asked what he had to say about his comments on nurses, Jangra said he was busy at an event.
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Known for anecdotes at expense of Haryanvis
Jangra, 74, hails from Meham village in Rohtak district and was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in March 2020.
Before his election, he had contested the 2014 Haryana assembly election from Gohana, finishing third with 24.23 percent of votes. He is considered close to Khattar.
A senior BJP leader from Haryana told ThePrint, wishing not to be named, that Jangra did not have an RSS background, like most other senior party leaders.
“He was in former CM Bansi Lal’s Haryana Vikas Party when the BJP had formed a government with that party in 1996. Later, when Bansi Lal’s government fell, Jangra came to the BJP’s fold. Since then, he has been with the BJP,” said the leader.
Jangra is known for narrating anecdotes at the expense of Haryanvis. In yet another speech in the current parliamentary session, he had implied that people from Haryana lacked common sense.
“Once a thief entered a house in Haryana, and the owner of the house went to the police and said, ‘I have tied the thief’s feet, please come quickly and arrest him’. The police officer said, ‘you are a strange man, if you have tied his feet, can’t he untie them with his hands?’ The man replied, ‘the thief is also from Haryana, such a thought won’t occur to him either’,” he narrated.
Controversial utterances
Prior to the Lok Sabha elections this year, Jangra had made a controversial statement about Muslims while referring to the Congress manifesto. At a press conference, he said that if the Congress had utilised Muslim artisans’ skills in weapon-making, India could have become a producer of AK-47 guns.
In 2022, a video of Jangra had gone viral on social media in which he was heard speaking at an event in Jhajjar about not worshipping Hindu deities and not visiting pilgrimage sites.
At the same event, he also objected to women wearing jeans.
“Nowadays, girls prefer to wear jeans instead of salwar. This is not our traditional attire. Torn jeans are Europe’s garbage. It is not fashion, but a symbol of poverty. Europe sent jeans to India. They had a lot of such garbage. Europe thought that there are many copycats in India who would buy it,” he said.
In 2021, during the protest against the three farm laws, Jangra had termed the agitating farmers as “lazy, useless, and alcoholic” while speaking to the media. In November that year, his car was allegedly targeted by a group of farmers in Hisar district.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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