Protests in parliament as MP refuses to apologize for ‘rape in India’ remark aimed at Modi

India’s lower house of parliament was adjourned following outcry over comments made by MP Rahul Gandhi, who retooled PM Narendra Modi’s ‘make in India’ slogan to criticize the government over a string of brutal rapes.

Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded an apology from Gandhi on Friday, after the former opposition leader said during an election rally that the government’s ‘make in India’ slogan (an initiative to bolster manufacturing) should be changed to “rape in India.” Gandhi was referring to the increasing number of rapes in the country, and what he calls Modi’s silence on a former BJP lawmaker’s involvement in a rape case.

Cabinet minister Smriti Irani accused Gandhi of “giving a clarion call that Indian women should be raped,” and said the MP should be punished. Outrage over his comments led to chants of “shame” from the government benches in the Lok Sabha. Proceedings were disrupted in both houses.

Gandhi later told reporters that he wouldn’t apologize.

“I said the PM keeps talking about ‘make in India’," he said, “So when one opens the newspaper one hoped that one would see news about it, but what do we see when we open the papers? We see so many cases of rapes.”

He also posted a tweet saying that it’s Modi who should apologize for his policies.

Local media didn’t provide any reaction from the prime minister himself over Gandhi’s comments.

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