Kanak Sarkar, a professor of political ccience and international relations at Jadavpur University, West Bengal, has drawn flak after comparing virgin brides to 'sealed bottles' in a Facebook post.
The now deleted post was apparently part of Sarkar's bid to impart "value oriented social counselling" among the eduacted youth.
In his Facebook post that went viral, Sarkar had asked the youth if they would like to purchase a cold drink or biscuit packet whose seal was broken or damaged.
"Boys remain fools. They are not aware of virgin girls as wife. Virgin girl is like sealed bottle or a packet. Are you willing to buy a broken seal while purchasing a bottle of cold drinks or a packet of biscuit?" he wrote.
"It is the same case with wife.A girl is biologically sealed from birth until it is opened. A virgin girl means many things accompanied as values, culture, sexual hygiene. To most boys, virgin boys is like an angel," Sarkar wrote in his post titled "Virgin Bride-Why not?"," Sarkar added.
After being criticised widely over the sexist and misogynistic nature of the post, Sarkar later deleted it but was in no mood to apoligise as he later defended his opinion citing the "freedom of speech and expression on social media" as his right in a subsequent post.
"I Write My Personal Opinion. Supreme Court has repealed section 66 A of IT Act and given freedom of expression in Social Media. When Taslima Nasrin wrote against a particular religion we supported her Freedom of Expression," he wrote.
However, his post sparked off condemnation from West Bengal Women's Commision and from the faculty members of the Jadavpur University where Sarkar is teaching.
Partha Pratim Ray, General Secretary, Jadavpur University Teachers' Association, told the Times of India that JUTA unequivocally condemned Sarkar's remarks as highly deplorable, sexist and misogynistic.
As a faculty member of JU and being part of Teacher-Students committee,I will take this up and would do everything possible to ensure that justice is served. https://t.co/51VMj2PlNZ
— Subhajit Naskar (@yeahSUBHAJIT) January 13, 2019