Now, RSS' Mohan Bhagwat makes derogatory comments against women, says rapes happen in India, not Bharat

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New Delhi Defending Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's controversial remark that rapes hardly take place in "Bharat", but they occur frequently in "India", RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav on Friday said "we have great respect for women."
"The statement of RSS chief should be taken in proper perspective. He (Bhagwat) has already demanded strict punishment for rapists and even called for death penalty if required," Madhav said.

"All that he said is that in Indian tradition we have great respect for women and we should learn to uphold this tradition. If one goes away from this tradition it will result in rise of crime against women," he added.

Addressing a citizens' meet here on Tuesday during his four-day visit to Silchar, Bhagwat criticized "western" lifestyle of people in urban areas and said, without empirical evidence to back such a claim, that rape is prevalent mainly in cities where Indians are deeply influenced by western values and not by rural India.

"You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gangrape or sex crimes. They are prevalent in some urban belts. Besides new legislations, Indian ethos and attitude towards women should be revisited in the context of ancient Indian values," he added.

However, Bhagwat said he wanted stringent laws in sexual crimes against women and will favour capital punishment for those convicted of rape.

English education triggers suicides, murders: Mumbai top cop

Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh had earlier said that there was a direct link between school and college education and murders and suicides, and students who study in English-medium institutions are especially vulnerable.

“In Mumbai, if there are 150 murders, there are eight times (more) suicides. All of the perpetrators are educated people. I have never seen an uneducated person committing suicide. I have researched this even while I was police commissioner in Pune. There were engineers and IT professionals committing suicide,” Singh had said.

“Most suicides,” Singh had reportedly said, “are committed by those who have studied in the English medium. I have never heard of or seen a Sanskrit-medium educated person committing suicide. And it is a known fact that more and more people are today sending their children to English-medium schools”.

Singh had blamed crime in cities like Mumbai and Delhi on flaws in the education system.

“Jo Delhi ka case hua ya phir Mumbai ke andar jo case hote hain, uske peechhe bhi jo... isko main sanskriti nahin kehta, usko main asanskriti bolta hoon... woh asanskriti ka parinaam hai... Hamare schools aur college ke andar jo shiksha di jaati hai... sanskaarheen shiksha di jaati hai. Jeevangun koi sikhaata nahin hai. (What has happened in Delhi or what happens in Mumbai, it is the consequence of the absence of culture. The education that is imparted in our schools and colleges is devoid of cultural content. Life values are not taught.)”