Women Congress workers today staged a protest in New Delhi against Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's recent remark on rape cases affecting tourism.
The protesters demanded an apology from Jaitley after he said recently that 'one small incident of rape in Delhi' advertised world over is enough to cost us billions of dollars in terms of lower tourism', which led to a storm of reactions from politicians and women's rights activists.
Congress leader Shobha Oza, who was among the protesters, said, "Arun Jaitley should have apologized, he is making an excuse that his remarks were misconstrued. This statement encourages those who are committing atrocities against women."
Another protester said, "This is a very wrong statement and we will not put up with such statements."
Jaitley had come under fire from various quarters, including Delhi gangrape victim, Nirbhaya's parents, for his comments.
He, however, issued a clarification saying his remarks had been misconstrued.
"There is a controversy about what I had said in my speech yesterday. However, I had strongly emphasized against crime against women in India, and that how it is one of the factors that affects the whole country. I regret that my speech was misconstrued in certain sections, or some words that I used were construed as insensitive, but that was not my intention," Jaitley told ANI.