Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Aug 17: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the whole country is watching the difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words and deeds in reference to the release of 11 life-sentenced inmates who were convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family members during the Gujarat riots in 2002.
“Those who raped a 5-month pregnant woman and killed her 3-year-old daughter were released during ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’,” he tweeted in Hindi.
“What is the message going out to the women of the country, from those speaking of women empowerment,” referring to PM Modi’s Independence Day speech he asked.
5 महीने की गर्भवती महिला से बलात्कार और उनकी 3 साल की बच्ची की हत्या करने वालों को 'आज़ादी के अमृत महोत्सव' के दौरान रिहा किया गया।
नारी शक्ति की झूठी बातें करने वाले देश की महिलाओं को क्या संदेश दे रहे हैं?
प्रधानमंत्री जी, पूरा देश आपकी कथनी और करनी में अंतर देख रहा है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 17, 2022
The same argument has been used by other Congress MPs and spokespersons as well as other Opposition parties to criticise the PM.
The Gujarat government has defended its decision to free the 11 men, claiming that it did so in accordance with a Supreme Court-mandated 1992 policy because that was in place at the time of the 2008 conviction.
In an earlier statement, Telangana minister KT Rama Rao (commonly known as “KTR”) questioned whether the prime minister “really meant” what he stated in his speech on August 15 about “respecting women.” “I ask you to intercede and reverse the Gujarat government remission order,” KTR wrote in a tweet, “if he meant it.”
Sir, I also urge you to make necessary amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) & The Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC) suitably so that no Rapist can get a bail through judiciary
Strong legislations are the only way to ensure Judiciary can deliver swiftly & perform at its best
— KTR (@KTRBRS) August 17, 2022
On March 3, 2002, in the Dahod district, Bilkis Bano, then age 21, was raped and seven of her family members were killed. Following the fire of a train coach just days earlier, which claimed the lives of 59 “kar sevaks,” they were hiding in fields to avoid the carnage. At the time, Gujarat’s chief minister was Narendra Modi.
The 11 suspects were given life sentences by a special court in Mumbai in 2008. Later, the Bombay High Court upheld it.
The Gujarat government was even ordered by the Supreme Court in 2019 to grant Bilkis Bano 50 lakh as compensation in addition to a home and a job.
Three years later, the prisoners were welcomed outside the Godhra Prison as they went out.
