Asia-Pacific

Indian writer faces ire of women over poem

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-16 20:04

NEW DELHI - A senior ruling Congress functionary and writer in the western Indian state of Goa is in the eye of a storm for writing a poem entitled "Chedi" or prostitute in the local Konkani language, reported Press Trust of India Saturday.

N. Shivdas, a Vice-President of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) and President of Goa Konkani Academy, has invited ire from several women's groups for writing the poem.

Former Goa Women's Commission Chairperson Pramod Salgaoncar, addressing a press conference Friday evening, said Shivdas should tender a public apology for the poem, which is "not only vulgar but also "an insult to womanhood".

Shivdas said he regrets the title of the poem, which compares life with a commercial sex worker, according to the report.

"It was not intended to insult anyone. I wrote it some years ago, when I was young," he was quoted as saying by the report.

However, the women's groups have demanded that the Congress leader step down as President of Goa Konkani Academy, a state-funded institution, said the report.