Kerala nurses vow to sue AAP leader

By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram

Nurses in Kerala have threatened to sue a top leader of Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party for “racist and sexist” remarks.

In a YouTube video clip widely shared on social media, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, who has vowed to contest against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in Lok Sabha elections, is seen making offensive remarks against  Kerala nurses.

“Earlier nurses used to come from Kerala, kali-peeli (dark skinned), one would naturally feel like calling them sisters but the North Indian nurses who are replacing them now make people stay in the hospital,” the poet-turned-politician was heard telling a jovial crowd in the clip.

Women activists also demanded the arrest of the AAP leader as the ‘sexually coloured’ remarks were an offence under the new Indian law.

Kumar, a member of the party’s top decision-making body considered close to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, reportedly made the controversial comments during a 2008 stage show in Ranchi.

“This is not only racist, but also sexist remarks. It amounts to insulting the women in the entire country,” said Usha Krishna Kumar, president of the All India Nurses Welfare Association. “We will sue him if he does not withdraw these remarks and tender an apology.”

The Kerala Government Nurses Association president O S Moli said her group would launch a protest against the AAP leader.

“How can a woman trust the AAP when it is controlled by leaders like Vishwas?” she asked while its secretary Nisha Hameed said the comments showed that the AAP was not a party of the common man but that of the elite.

“The women are going to take brooms against him if he does not withdraw his remarks,” she said.

The broom is the AAP’s election symbol.