I n a widely circulated report, it was said that Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi this week wrote to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan seeking action on a book for Second-Year BSc students that has “derogatory” remarks against women. In her letter, Chaturvedi said ‘Textbook of Sociology for Nurses’ lays down “merits and advantages” of the dowry system.

She said one of the so-called advantages of the dowry system, as written in the book, states, “Because of the burden of dowry, many parents have started educating their girls. When girls are educated or even employed, the demand for dowry will be less. This is an indirect advantage.” Appalling though this is, there is more to come, with lines from the book cited in the report as reading, “ugly girls can be married off with attractive dowry with well or ugly looking boys.”