We read:
"An embarrassingly derogatory remark against Hindu women by a Canton Township, Detroit official has angered many among Hindu Americans, especially the Indian community in Detroit.
Catherine Johnson, a 71-year old planning commissioner in Canton Township has now offered to resign after she asked at a public forum whether Hindu women urinate in public as part of any Hindu religious ritual. Her shocking and grossly ignorant remark, she claimed, was prompted by neighbors around the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (BAPS Temple) told her that during the Temple's groundbreaking ceremony in 2000, several women attending the ceremonies were seen urinating behind the Temple, and so wanted to know if it was some sort of ritual.
According to The Detroit News, Johnson, who has served as a member for 27 years on the panel, said she's quitting because Supervisor Thomas Yack asked her to -- not because she said anything wrong. "It was a valid question. It was something that a few citizens contacted me at home about," she said. "I try to ask questions about what citizens in the community would want to know." The appalled Indian community said the question was an unfair characterization of their culture and a lie, and said the remark underscored stereotypes about cleanliness in India.
Source
It is customary in Indian villages to go out into the fields to relieve oneself. It is a valuable form of fertilizer. Maybe some remnant of that custom was what was observed.
