Farooq Abdullah apologises for controversial remarks on women

National Conference chief and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday apologised for his controversial comment against women.

Abdullah had said men were now scared to talk to women as they feared that they may end up in jail. He was reacting to the plight of former Supreme Court judge A K Ganguly, who is facing a sexual harassment case, and demands to resign from the post of chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission.

Abdullah said:: "Women should get their respect. I apologise if something has been said which I did not mean. Things have gone haywire. We all are against rape; we are all against putting women low. If there is something that I have said which has hurt sentiments, then, I am sorry."

Earlier in the day, Abdullah said: "I'm scared to talk to a woman these days. I don't even want to keep a female secretary. Who knows, I might end up in jail because of a complaint. No, I'm not blaming the girls, I'm blaming society itself. The society has reached this point, where now, after one direction, it's putting pressure on everyone."

BJP leader Smriti Irani responded by saying: "It is a very very demeaning comment by such a senior political leader."

The intern's allegations against Justice Ganguly created a media furor, with female lawyers and activists calling for the country's top court to investigate the incident.

A committee of three judges of the Supreme Court has indicted Ganguly for 'unwelcome behaviour' and 'conduct of a sexual nature' towards a woman law intern, prompting demands that action under criminal law should be initiated against him.

It is the first time that a Supreme Court has set up an internal inquiry into sexual harassment allegations against a former judge.