🏛️ What Happened
A controversial comment was made by Maulana Sajid Rashidi, president of the All India Imam Association, during a televised debate. He described Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav’s attire during a mosque visit as disrespectful to religious decency—pointing out that she didn’t cover her head, unlike fellow MP Iqra Hasan. He also made a remark about how she “sat like a slave,” deeply offending many.(turn0search2, turn0news15)
An FIR was registered by Lucknow Police under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita—including insulting modesty and promoting enmity on communal grounds.(turn0search11)
🚨 NDA’s Reaction: Protest & Criticism Over SP “Silence”
On July 28, NDA MPs (including BJP members) held a protest at Parliament’s Makar Dwar, raising slogans and holding placards reading, “Nari garima par prahar, nahin sahega Hindustan” (India will not tolerate an attack on women’s dignity).(turn0search1, turn0news12)
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj condemned the cleric’s remarks as “shameful, offensive and unacceptable” and questioned why SP chief Akhilesh Yadav remained silent instead of defending his wife’s dignity. She accused the SP of appeasement politics.(turn0search1, turn0search6)
LJP MP Shambhavi Choudhary also criticized the silence, stressing that respect for women should transcend ideological divides.(turn0search3)
🧏 SP’s Standpoint & Response
Akhilesh Yadav condemned the criticism, stating the mosque visit was a social, non-political courtesy meeting invited by SP MP Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi. He accused the BJP of communalizing the issue to divert attention from bigger controversies like the Bihar voter revision (SIR) and insisted SP stands for religious unity.(turn0news14, turn0search0)
Dimple Yadav welcomed the FIR, but challenged the NDA to show consistent solidarity, citing that past incidents—such as violence in Manipur and criticisms of female army officers during Operation Sindoor—did not receive similar protest. (turn0search4)
⚖️ Broader Themes & Political Implications
| Theme | Key Issues & Insights |
|---|---|
| Women’s Dignity | Remarks against a sitting MP sparked widespread condemnation |
| SP Leadership Response | Silence by Akhilesh seen as political caution or appeasement |
| Political Signaling | BJP using protest to project moral high ground |
| Selective Solidarity? | Dimple Yadav points to past incidents where similar outrage was absent |
| Political Lineage | Clash centers around respect, religion, and partisan optics |
✅ Bottom Line
The episode underlines two interwoven battlegrounds: respect for women’s dignity and political messaging through silence or speech. While NDA MPs turned the cleric’s remarks into a rallying point, the Samajwadi Party has questioned whether such protests need to be consistent across all such incidents. The political debate now hinges on whether Akhilesh Yadav’s silence represented restraint or shrewd calculation—and how public perception shapes over time.
