Was PM aware of nod to release Bilkis case convicts, asks Cong.Rahul Gandhi questions Modi, Shah on what message it sends to women in the country
Policy matters: People greeting the convicts after they were released from Godhra sub-jail in Gujarat on Monday under the State government’s remission policy.PTI-
The entire country can see the difference between the words and deeds of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday, targeting Mr. Modi over the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Mr. Gandhi also asked what message was being sent out to the women of the country through such a decision. “Those who raped a five-month pregnant woman and killed her three-year-old daughter were released during Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. What message is being given to the women of the country by those who peddle lies about nari shakti?,” Mr. Gandhi said in a tweet.
The BJP government in Gujarat released all 11 persons who were convicted of gang-rape of Ms. Bano and murder of seven of her family members, on Independence Day as part of its remission policy.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera accused the Gujarat government of falsely giving the impression that the remission was granted under a Supreme Court directive.
“The truth is that the Supreme Court merely asked the Gujarat government to decide the matter within three months. It’s an executive decision and not a judicial decision,” he said.
He said that since the case had been investigated by the CBI, the State government had to secure the concurrence of the Centre on the decision.
“We would like to ask the Prime Minister and the Home Minister if they knew that these 11 rapists and murderers were going to be released? And if not, what legal action are they going to take against their government in Gujarat?” Mr. Khera said.
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Mahesh Langa Godhra
BJP legislators C.K. Raolji and Suman Chauhan were members of the committee, headed by Godhra Collector and District Magistrate Sujal Mayatra, that recommended remission of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape and massacre case of the 2002 riots.
The committee “unanimously” decided to recommend remission to the convicts, who had already spent 14 years in jail since they were sentenced to life imprisonment in the heinous crime in 2008.
The State government accepted the recommendation of the advisory committee and allowed the remission and premature release of the convicts who were released to a hero’s welcome by their relatives as well as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
“We felt that the convicts had already suffered enough and therefore they should be released prematurely,” said one of the members, while refusing to divulge details of how many meetings were held and what aspects were considered while deciding on granting the remission.
Members of import
Godhra legislator Mr. Raolji is a seasoned politician who had defected to the ruling BJP in 2017 when Shankarsinh Vaghela split the Congress during the nail-biting Rajya Sabha polls of the late Congress leader Ahmed Patel. Mr. Raolji, who served as a Cabinet Minister in the Vaghela government in the mid 1990s, was in the BJP and had walked out of the party along with Vaghela in 1996.
“We followed the procedure and went by the rules,” Mr. Raolji said, when asked about how come the committee recommended the premature release of the convicts in such a grave crime.
Another legislator on the committee is Ms. Chauhan, a first-time MLA from Kalol in Godhra district. She is the daughter-in-law of former Godhra MP and former Minister Prabhatsinh Chauhan, a prominent OBC leader from the district, who has been with the every major party in the State.
Two other members of the panel are former Godhra municipal councillor from BJP Murli Mulchandani, a key witness in Godhra train carnage case, and a worker with the BJP women’s wing Snehaben Bhatia.
District Social Welfare Officer, a Sessions Judge and the Superintendent of Jail were also part of the committee.
Mahesh Langa AHMEDABAD
In her first reaction after 11 convicts of her case serving life imprisonment were released prematurely under the remission policy, Bilkis Bano late on Wednesday said that the decision of their release shook her faith in judiciary and took away peace from her.
“The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice. My sorrow and my wavering faith is not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts,” she said in her first reaction in a statement that was released by her lawyer Shobha Gupta.
On August 15, the Gujarat government released 11 convicts serving their sentence in a jail in Godhra after the State administration accepted the recommendation of a local committee that granted remission to them.
In her statement, she demanded her right to “live in peace and without fear” while questioning how justice for any woman can end like this. “No one enquired about my safety and well-being, before taking such a big and unjust decision.”
She said that the decision of the State government had left her numb and bereft of any words.
“When I heard that the 11 convicted men who devastated my family and my life, and took from me my 3 year old daughter, had walked free... I was bereft of words. I am still numb,” she said, adding “… the trauma of the past 20 years washed over me again.”
“I appeal to the Gujarat government, please undo this harm. Give me back my right to live without fear and in peace,” she said ending her brief statement.
Earlier, her husband Yakub had said that the family was unaware till they learnt from the media about the release of the convicts.
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Ziya Us Salam New Delhi
Muslim bodies have condemned the release of the 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano case, calling it “a wrong message for the society as well as the victim”.
“At a time when laws have been framed to punish rape with capital punishment, we have a case of men convicted of both rape and murder being released. It is not just condemnable but jeopardises the security of women,” said Niaz Faruqui, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, adding, “It amounts to double standards for the same crime depending on the identity of the victim.”
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s Salim Engineer said, “Such decisions are aimed at reaping political dividends to appease a particular constituency. We hope the apex court intervenes in the matter to reverse this grave injustice carried out under the guise of official government policy,” he said.
Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan asked the State government to revoke the remission, All India Democratic Women’s Association termed the action “outrageous and shocking”.
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