Lalu takes on Facebook, gay marriage
New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday demanded a debate in the Lok Sabha on "degrading" Indian values due to cultural aggression from internet and other tools originating in the west.
"Where is our country headed to?" Mr Yadav said, referring to Delhi's first slut walk, held last week to denounce the view that women's dress is to blame for the s*xual harassment they face.
"Thousands of people marched on roads stripped, wearing colourful tattoos... they were celebrating. This is a serious issue and we demand a discussion on it," he said.
He said Indians were close to allowing same s*x marriage.
"Woman will marry woman. And you are accepting it silently," Mr Yadav said, referring to a Delhi High Court 2009 ruling decriminalising same-s*x relations among consenting adults.
He said India was the land of saints and sages and the "Western cultural aggression is destroying our culture".
"Vulgarity, internet chatting, Valentine Day, ipod, Facebook - all these things have been brought from America, and that is why obscenity is growing. We are losing our cultural values, legacies," he said.
