P Chidambaram expressed his wish to visit Jammu and Kashmir. (File photo)
Former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday turned emotional while talking about the rising cases of crime against women in the country.
"I am shocked, I am ashamed. Yesterday, in one newspaper I found six incidents of rape and lynching. Shameful... It's a complete breakdown of law and order in many parts of India. What is the police doing? Where is the fear of law," Mr Chidambaram said.
In recent times, several politicians have expressed their concern over brutal gang-rape and murder of a doctor in Telangana.
The doctor was brutally gang-raped and killed by four persons before they burnt her body in Shamshabad area on November 27. The four accused are currently in judicial remand custody at Cherlapally Central Jail in Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, Mr Chidambaram said that global slowdown is responsible to the extent that it affects our exports, but exports are only one of the four drivers of the economy. The other three are entirely the responsibility of the Indian government, he said.
Asked whether the rise in onion prices is due to mismanagement on the part of the government, Mr Chidambaram said, "Of course. They should have planned in advance. What's the point of importing now? When will they arrive? But if the Finance Minister says, 'I don't eat onions'... That shows the mindset of this government."
He also said, "I don't think they understand even the difference between cyclical and structural. First they must have people in the government who understand the difference between cyclical and structural. They had a few people, they banished them. Dr Raghuram Rajan was banished, Dr Arvind Subramanian was banished, Dr Arvind Panagariya was banished, Dr Urjit Patel was banished. People who understood these things were banished by this government."
Mr Chidambaram also expressed his wish to visit Jammu and Kashmir.
"I intend to visit Jammu and Kashmir if the government will allow me to visit Jammu and Kashmir," he said.