Twitter users in India are calling out an erstwhile Indian Supreme Court judge, Markandey Katju, for a sexist comment on Facebook, where he apparently said: "...good girls go to bed early".
Today, hashtag #MarkandeyKatju was seen trending on Twitter, after a screenshot of his conversation with a Facebook user named Kathryne Doley went viral on the micro-blogging site.
After Doley had commented on one of his posts, a conversation followed between the two. During the course of the public exchange Katju asked Doley: “Not sleepy?”, and then followed it up with the comment: “I thought good girls go to bed early”.
Women on Twitter started sharing the screenshots, while calling out the jurist.
Tweep @ayerushii posted: "Can we stop laughing on his predatory [expletive]? And call him out? Hold him accountable?"
Using sarcasm to hit back, tweep @143snehasree posted: "Thanks for this definition of 'good girls'. Would be very helpful if you would publish a book on 'how to be a good girl', your honor."
Responding to the backlash, Katju took to Facebook to respond. He wrote: "There is a big hue and cry over a comment I made that ‘good girls go to bed early‘. But, what wrong did I say? It seems nowadays people make a fuss over everything."
Apparently, this is not the first time that Katju is being called out for sexist and misogynist remarks. People also shared other instances of when Katju was "creepy" to women on social media.
According to Indian news media reports, in 2015, comparing two female ministers, Katju had said that only beautiful women should be elected as politicians so as to get "momentary happiness looking at her face in the media."
After he received falk for the comment, he went on to defend the remark.
In a 2015 entry on his blog, Katju wrote: "What is wrong with some of you people? Can't an old man like me admire a beautiful woman? By admiring a beautiful flower I am not plucking it, and by admiring a beautiful garden from a distance I am not tresspassing onto it. Similarly, if I admire a beautiful woman I am not misbehaving with her, or taking liberties with her."
