There is furor over an alleged "sexist" remark made by senior Trinamool Congress leader and MP Kalyan Banerjee who said that only men and none else can save the honour of women.

During an interaction with some media men during Durga Puja celebrations, Banerjee said --- in an apparent reference to the ongoing protest against a plethora of recent rape and murder cases including the one of a postgraduate lady doctor inside the RG Kar Medical College and hospital --- "if men cannot honour women then no one can … even an army of 1000 policemen cannot save women if the men don't protect and honour women."

Praying Mother Goddess Durga to destroy the evil and inspire good sense in the people he iterated "we the men will provide security and preserve the honour of all the women … we will offer security to all the women."

Reminding how "Lord Shiva had honoured Goddesses Durga and Kali," and how "without Lord Shiva's show of respect to the Goddesses neither Kali nor Durga could have become what they became," he said "let us take a pledge during these Durga Pujas that we will protect and honour the women."

 There was immediate reaction to Banerjee's statements with members of civil society wondering why during the TMC rule the women will have to be protected by men and not by law. "We the women are equal with women in every respect … even better than them … at least if we take into consideration the fact that our Chief Minister is a woman … if that be so why the men will have to protect women and why not the reverse," said Ushashi a Bengali film actress.

Another actor invoked Rudyard Kipling's "White Man's Burden" to take care of the "common things" saying, while the British writer sounded racist here some TMC leaders are "sexist if it be put that way."

A State BJP leader asked whether Banerjee's statement should be taken as a discredit to the police administration that that it cannot provide adequate protection to its citizens, particularly women. "The way he is telling that the police cannot protect the women means that the State police administration has literally given up … it cannot take on the TMC goons anymore," he said reminding how "encounter medicine in Yogi ji's UP had reformed all the aspiring criminals."

CPI(M) leader Dipshita Dhar said that the TMC MP should herself be respectful to the women before appealing others to do so.

"Kalyan Babu should walk his talk … he should himself pay respect to the women first before asking others to do so … if you refer to his previous remarks about women adversaries you will feel disturbed," Dhar who had contested against Banerjee in the Lok Sabha elections said.