Pannalal Surana
At the press conference on 13th April 2018, Meenakshi Lakhi, national spokesperson of BJP, said, “One Zakir Hussain aged 19, and two boys of 13 had gang-raped a minor girl in Nagaon in Assam, but none of the secularist parties or any of the candle-march experts had uttered a word of protest about that. But there were loud protests about Unnao and Kathua incidents because the suspects therein are Hindus.”
What kind of logic or concern about human rights compelled her to look at heinous rape cases in such partisan manner is best known to the lady or her party brethren.
It is very saddening to note that somehow there is a spurt in cases of atrocities against women in the past few months. Some of them are published in local or regional press while some of them might not see the light of the day. All normal human beings feel ashamed of such instances. Human rights activists do try to follow those cases and help in one way or another the victims and their families. About the incident referred to by Smt Lakhi, proper notice was taken by the regional press. What is noteworthy is that after the matter came to the notice of the parents of the victim, her father lodged an FIR with the police who took prompt action in rushing the girl to the medical college hospital at Guwahati. But unfortunately the girl could not be saved because the burn injuries were far too severe. The police also arrested the three suspects within a couple of days and all the neighbours, both Muslims and Hindus, extended support to the family.
Why the incidents at Unnao and Kathua attracted wide publicity?
At Unnao, one Surendra Singh, a BJP MLA, had raped a woman 260 days before the matter attracted attention of the national press. The woman was residing just behind the house of the MLA. She belonged to a poor family, was married and had two children but was of age below 18. Her father had gone to the police station to lodge a complaint. The police did not record it. Instead, he was severely beaten by the supporters of the MLA who had rushed to the PS. The person died a few days later. Thereafter the victim woman declared that she would immolate herself in front of CM’s residence. That became headlines in the media. Instead of allowing the law to take its course, another BJP MLA said that all the entire story was politically motivated to damage the image of Surendra Singh. In defence of his brother MLA, he advanced an argument saying that no man would rape a mother of two children. Surendra Singh himself said that as the lady belonged to a lowly caste, how could he touch her? That invited loud protests. So Surendra Singh staged a melodrama. Accompanied by 40-50 supporters, he visited the residence of the SP at about 11 o’clock at night and told the media there that since some are calling him a bhagoda, he had visited the SP’s place on his own, but as the police was not arresting him, he was going back home. But public pressure snowballed, as a result of which the CM handed over the matter to CBI who arrested Surendra Singh.
What has happened at Kathua is much more horrible. While a Bakarwal girl of 8 was looking after the sheep that were grazing in a lonely place, a retired government servant abetted by two policemen forcibly took her away. All the three raped her and then killed her and threw her body in the nearby jungle. The body was recovered a few days later and an FIR was lodged. Many BJP activists, including two ministers in the Mehbooba Mufti’s government started saying that respectable Hindus were being wrongfully framed and so they should not be arrested. The Bar Council of Jammu even passed a resolution asking the police not to take action against the named suspects. That was too much. Apart from public protests, the Supreme Court of India took suo moto action and asked the police to proceed with its investigation and arrests. But the BJP cohorts continued to say that Hindus of Jammu are unnecessarily being defamed. The President of Madhya Pradesh BJP went so far as to say that it was all a part of a Pakistani conspiracy to defame not only Jammu’s Hindus but the whole Indian nation.
Unnao and Kathua got so much of public glare because the BJP, instead of treating the incidents as crimes cognizable under the IPC, gave such vicious twists to these unfortunate incidents of human rights failures. How can religion or caste of a victim and of the offenders matter in such cases. They should be treated as offences and be dealt with severely.
Meenakshi Lekhi would do well to introspect a little and persuade her party colleagues not to be so frivolous.
When the matter became too hot, the Modi Government rushed an ordinance prescribing death penalty in a case where the rape victim is a minor. Many knowledgeable persons, including the Delhi High Court, have questioned the wisdom of that action. As per the records of the National Crimes Bureau, rate of conviction in such matters is only 3%. It is observed that in cases where minors are raped, generally the offenders are family members or close acquaintances. Obviously, there will not be any witnesses who will come forward to give evidence in such cases.
All of us should realise that such cases cannot be treated in a routine matter. What needs to be done is to change the mindset of the males towards women.
