Off the wire
• China treasury bond futures close higher Monday  • 1st LD: 6 students killed, 5 injured in road mishap in India  • Myanmar football team to compete in ASEAN Women's Championship in Vietnam  • Feature: Many cases of sexual harassment reported during Bangladeshi New Year celebration  • Saudi Arabia tightens security amid terror threats  • 1st Ld-Writethru-China Focus: China mulls ad bans  • China stock index futures close lower Monday  • Indian paralyzed man crowned bodybuilding champion  • Blast kills 3 soldiers in Egypt's Sinai  • 2nd LD: Chinese president arrives in Islamabad for state visit  
You are here: 　 Home

Indian minister apologizes for sexist, racist remarks on Sonia Gandhi

Xinhua, April 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Indian minister on Monday apologized in the parliament for his racist and sexist remarks on the country's main opposition Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi.

"If my comments have caused offence to anyone, I apologize," said Giriraj Singh, minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise, following a massive uproar by the Congress party in the parliament that resumed for the budget session after a three- week break.

The minister courted controversy for saying earlier this month "If (former Indian Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi had married a Nigerian lady and not a white-skinned woman, then would the Congress have accepted her (widow Sonia Gandhi's) leadership?"

The Nigerian envoy in India had then lodged a strong protest against the minister's remarks, apart from the Congress party which also demanded Singh's resignation. Endi