The Nation is aghast at the remark made by an elected Congress legislator who has trivialised rape by making a shameful and filthy remark in the Karnataka Assembly in front of elected representatives, and a concerted demand has been made for action to be taken against him.

Former Karnataka Assembly Speaker and senior Congress leader KR Ramesh Kumar on Thursday passed a sexist comment in the Assembly saying "When rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy it". However, instead of confronting him, the legislators in the House, even Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, who belongs to BJP, began to laugh.

What's abhorrent is that instead of issuing an apology, the Congress MLA defended his remarking, calling it an "off the cuff" comment. When confronted by Republic, Kumar turned aggressive and said he cannot be forced to react.

TIME TO RAISE YOUR VOICE & DEMAND ACTION

In light of the heinous remark and the conditional apologies entailed, it is time that India raises its voice to not just act against this mindset but also demand the most uncompromising action against all those present inside the Karnataka assembly. It's time to take a stand and stubborn demand for justice to India's daughters. It is time for our great democracy to rise up and demand action, and for this purpose, Republic has launched a petition.

Sign the petition to ensure that the half a billion women of India get justice and ensure that we get freedom from this filthy mindset that still plagues some in this country.

Steps to sign the petition

• Visit- https://petition.republicworld.com.
• Scroll down to the bottom of the page
• In the 'sign the petition' section, enter your name, last name and country.
• Click on 'sign'.

What the petition demands:

• The Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar, Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri and every member of the house who laughed must be held accountable. This petition demands that: 
• This petition demands the immediate sacking of Congress MLA  KR Ramesh Kumar who triviliased rape - both from his position as an MLA and as a member of the Indian National Congress.  
• This petition demands complete suspension of Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar from electoral politics, with no party giving him any position or ticket to contest elections. 
• This petition demands that the Speaker who laughed and effectively justified the comments of Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar faces strict action. 
• This petition demands that the top leadership of every party whose members made/laughed about the horrific rape comment ensure the culprits face immediate action.
• This petition demands that the top-most leadership of the Congress party breaks its silence on the remarks of Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar and disclose to the public the action taken against him.

 Why you should sign the petition:

• Sign the petition to stand for justice for Indian women. 
• Sign the petition to fight against the mindset that mocks and trivialises rape.
• Sign the petition to take a stand against misogyny and patriarchy.  
• Sign the petition so that no politician ever treats rape as a jocular matter ever again.  
• Sign the petition because all those guffawing after a sitting MLA says ‘enjoy rape’ - cannot and should not get away with it.