On a day when Bilkis Bano, a survivor of the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, said the premature release of all the 11 convicts serving life sentence in a case related to her and seven family members, has shaken her faith in justice and left her numb, the Congress stepped up its attack with former party chief Rahul Gandhi alleging that BJP's support to criminals displays the ruling party's mindset towards women.
Stating that he was ashamed of "such politics", Rahul cited the examples of rape cases in Unnao and Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and now Gujarat where the government this week released those convicted of rape and murder in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case.
"Unnao - worked to save BJP MLA. Kathua - rally in favour of rapists. Hathras - the government in favour of rapists. Gujarat - the release and honour of rapists. The support to criminals displays the petty mindset of the BJP towards women," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. "Are you not ashamed of such politics, Prime Minister ji," Rahul asked.
Through a statement, Bano has appealed to the Gujarat government to "undo this harm" and give back her right to "live without fear and in peace." The 11 convicts, sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 case of Bilkis Bano's gang rape and murder of her seven family members during the riots, walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on Monday after the BJP government in Gujarat allowed their release under its remission policy.
Discussing the release of the Bilkis Bano case convicts, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram added that two BJP MLAs were part of the review panel that granted them remission. "There is an interesting side story to the grant of remission to 11 persons convicted for gang rape in Gujarat. Among the Review Panel were two BJP MLAs C. K. Raolji and Suman Chauhan. Another member was Murli Mulchandani who was a key witness for the prosecution in the Godhra Train burning case," Chidambaram alleged on Twitter.
He asked whether this was a neutral, non-partisan panel of experts in criminology and penology and said the district collector was the chairperson. Rahul and his party have been attacking the BJP and the prime minister for releasing the rapists in the Bilkis Bano case by granting them remission.
TRS MLC Kavitha said the welcome to the rapists and murderers after they were released from jail by some people who follow a certain ideology is a slap on the face of a just society,. In a series of tweets in Hindi, Kavitha said it is imperative to stop this extremely dangerous tradition before it takes the form of a legacy.
"The welcome shown to the rapists and murderers after getting released from jail by some people who follow a certain ideology is a slap on the face of a just society. It is imperative to stop this extremely dangerous tradition before it takes the form of a legacy," she tweeted.