“It is unfortunate that certain remarks are being selectively presented and taken out of context,” Singh told The Indian Express on Tuesday, adding the clip, which has gone viral, was part of a longer interview that was conducted while she was in the midst of an official meeting.
“The questions asked, the sequence of the discussion, and my repeated assertion that such incidents would not be tolerated clearly convey my position,” Singh said.
Singh had courted controversy after a clip from a television interview surfaced on Monday in which she was heard saying: “Moral policing, on one hand, it can be done in a more decent and an elegant fashion, but the way they mishandled, mistreated the boy and the girl together is absolutely not tolerable.”
Singh, the Industries and Sports Minister for Bihar, allegedly went on to say: “You can have an opinion about how somebody chooses to live their life and what they want to do with it, and maybe, I’m just saying, maybe there is a better way to do it, but the way they’ve been treated is absolutely not tolerable.”
Her comments drew a sharp response from the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, who shared a clip of the interview on X on Tuesday. The RJD leader said Singh appeared to be suggesting that “moral policing” should have been carried out in a “respectful manner”.
“(This) Means that now BJP ministers in the NDA government want incidents of harassment, sexual assault, drug trafficking, murder and rape under the guise of ‘moral policing’ to be carried out in a ‘respectful manner’ and in a supposedly ‘sattvik’ way?” Yadav wrote, adding that Singh should give “tuition” on moral policing.
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Singh, meanwhile, said the interview should be understood “in its entirety, rather than on the basis of isolated statements”. She said while others were focusing on making public statements, she and Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary were in communication with the district administration and monitoring the situation.
Justice and accountability remain priority: Minister
“The priority was, and remains, justice, accountability, and the safety of the people,” said Singh, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Arjuna Award-winning shooter.
Singh is not the only NDA leader who has found themselves in a spot owing to controversial remarks on the Jamui issue.
Earlier on Monday, senior JD(U) leader and party state president Umesh Kushwaha described the Jamui case as an “isolated and minor incident”. “Whenever such an isolated incident occurs, our government is sensitive to it. But look at the period before 2005; what kind of Bihar was it? Could people even step out of their homes?” he had said.
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Kushwaha later said his remarks had been “distorted and misrepresented” and urged that his “entire statement” be heard rather than conclusions being drawn from a single portion.
The controversy comes amid outrage over a recent incident in which two school-going teenagers, on their way back from tuition classes, were allegedly surrounded by a group of men in Jamui, with the boy assaulted and the girl molested. Police have registered a case under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
On Tuesday, the main accused, Nandan Yadav, who had allegedly been absconding, sustained a gunshot wound to his leg during an encounter with police, Munger DIG Rakesh Kumar confirmed to The Indian Express. A second accused also suffered a leg injury. Both men, locals aged 25, were admitted to Sadar Hospital.
Police said the two accused opened fire when a team approached them in an area covered by bushes. Police retaliated, injuring both men. Nandan, police said, works as a tractor driver.
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Three juveniles had earlier been apprehended, while raids were under way to arrest the remaining accused. Police have also been working to remove the videos of the Jamui incident from social media platforms, saying circulation of such material involving minors is an offence.
