New Delhi: Leaders across political parties slammed Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare Minister Azam Khan’s ‘mobile phones lead to rape’ remark, saying that cell phones have connected villages with the rest of the world.
Congress leader Rashid Alvi said that rapes would not have taken place if there was a competent government at the Centre.
“Mobile phones help people in villages connect with the world. This is a remark made without understanding. We have to move with time. Such things won’t happen if there is a competent government. There are many nations in the world where such incidents do not take place because the law and order situation is good there,” Alvi told ANI.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar said that a responsible leader like Azam Khan should not have made such a remark, adding that mobile phones cannot be blamed for rapes.
“We do not know where people like Azam Khan want to take the country. In this age of technology, mobile phones are not at fault, if they are misused then it is different matter. We cannot ban mobile phones. It does not look nice when a responsible person speaks like this,” Anwar told ANI.
Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah took a dig at Khan’s remark and asked about incidents of rape before the advent of mobile phones.
“Of course because rape and depravity didn’t exist before the arrival of smart phones,” Omar tweeted.
The Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare Minister had earlier today blamed excessive use of mobile phones for the rise in rapes and easy access to peadophile content.
“Any punishment is less for a crime like rape, but we need to think what is the truth behind the rape of a 2.5-year-old. The truth is this mobile (phone), the content that you get to see on this for free,” Khan had told ANI.
He also said that easy access to vulgar content was ruining the current generation. (ANI)