Modi needs to focus on women instead of cows

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Modi needed to direct his focus on women issues more instead of cows, thought one beauty pageant contestant in India during a question and answers session.

During the Miss Kohima 2019 beauty pageant, Vikuonuo Sachu was asked by one of the judges about the thing that she would tell Modi if he invited her for a chat. Without giving it a second thought, Sachu responded, "If I were invited by the prime minister of India, I would tell him to focus more on women instead of cows,” reported India Today.

The audience erupted into laughter and her reply earned her a round of applause at the contest.

The contest was held in the Indian state of Nagaland’s capital Kohima city on October 5.

The clip of the incident went viral on Twitter. Vikuonuo Sachu could not win the Nagaland Pageant but she gave surely the best message to Modi.

Similarly, user @DTHAPAR posted: “Hope she won the crown too as she certainly won the crowd!”

Sachu was declared runner-up in the contest.

There were also those who wanted to hear more from the youngster. Tweep @Advaidism posted: “Vikuonuo Sachu should have a twitter account.”

Discrimination and violence against women is an ongoing issue in India. From frequent instances of rapes to the skewed gender ratio due to female infanticide, the concerns are many.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) notes that biologically, the normal sex ratio at birth (SRB) in a country should vary from 102 to 106 males per 100 females. India’s stands at 120 males/100 girls and that rate is among the highest in the world. In January 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” (Save the girl child, educate girl child) campaign and said, “Our mental illness is responsible for this poor sex ratio. We give a lot of importance to boys. Many women also do this. But for how long will we look at girls as ‘paraya dhan’ (someone else’s property)? For every 1,000 boys born, 1,000 girls should also be born. I want to ask you if girls are not born, where will you get your daughters-in-law from?” However, the progress and results of the campaign so far are questionable.