Hema, a Member of Parliament from Mathura, had made a controversial remark saying the widows from Bengal and Bihar should not crowd Vrindavan, the holy city in Uttar Pradesh home to thousands of destitute women. She had also said, "Vrindavan widows have a bank balance, good income, nice beds, but they beg out of habit."
Mohini Giri, the chairperson of NGO Guild of Service, which runs Amar Bari ashram in Vrindavan, has said that this statement has "broken the heart" of thousands of widows who had many hopes from Hema.
"Tomorrow someone will say that you are also widow and you are from Andhra so go back to your state. What will I do then? Is this we expect in our country. My widows are crying. They has a lot of hopes from Hema who is not able to understand their condition despite being a woman," she said.
Giri claimed that she wrote three letters to the Bollywood actress but did not get any prompt reply.
Giri also claimed that these widows, living for decades in Vrindavan, do not want to go back to their place.