MLA Padmavathi flays ill treatment of women cops

metro india news I hyderabad

Kodad MLA N. Padmavathi Reddy on Tuesday made an emotional intervention in the Telangana Legislative Assembly, condemning derogatory remarks against Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar and the alleged humiliating treatment of women police personnel during Monday’s protest by BRS members at the Legislature.

Speaking during a discussion on the incident, Padmavathi Reddy said political protest was a democratic right but could not be a licence to insult women in uniform, demean personnel performing their duty or undermine the dignity of constitutional institutions.

“Just imagine what those young women constables must have gone through when several men removed their shirts right in front of them,” she said, expressing anguish that the women personnel had to face such a situation while performing their duty.

Saying she was speaking not merely as an MLA but as a woman citizen, she said there was nothing wrong with BRS members wearing black as a form of protest. However, T-shirts carrying slogans effectively became placards, which were not permitted inside the Assembly Hall.

She said police and marshals were only carrying out their assigned duties and that the police department had the prerogative to decide whether male or female personnel should be deployed for a particular assignment. No one had the right to question the deployment of women police personnel, she said.

“Inside the House or outside, we are responsible legislators and we have to behave like responsible legislators,” she said. Padmavathi Reddy informed the House that women legislators had approached the Telangana State Commission for Women on Tuesday morning and lodged a complaint over the treatment of women police personnel. The complaint expressed “profound sense of outrage and distress” over media reports and video footage of the incident.

Turning to remarks allegedly directed against the Speaker and the Chair, she said political differences should never erode respect for the Legislature. “We are all one when it comes to protecting the dignity of the Chair. Whether inside the House or outside, it is our responsibility to protect the prestige of this institution,” she said.

She said every legislator, irrespective of party affiliation, had a responsibility to uphold the dignity of the Speaker’s Chair and maintain the standards expected of elected representatives.

Padmavathi Reddy warned that offensive language and conduct were lowering the quality of political discourse. Patience and democratic tolerance, she said, should not be mistaken for weakness.

“We have been patient and democratic in allowing everyone to express their views, but there has to be a limit. We cannot tolerate this any longer,” she said. She appealed to the Chair to take a firm view of derogatory comments, including those made off-microphone, and sought stringent action against those responsible.

The Legislature, she said, should remain a forum where elected representatives discuss people’s problems and work towards solutions, rather than a place where women performing their duties are humiliated or constitutional offices demeaned. “The House exists for us to discuss the problems of the people and work towards resolving them. Its dignity must be protected,” she said.