The Congress and the BJP on Friday traded barbs on crimes against women in states ruled by each other, in the process highlighting the failure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise for women’s safety as expressed in his 2014 slogan: “Bahut hua naari par war/ Abki baar Modi Sarkar.”
While the Congress voiced outrage that a raped and bleeding minor girl had to travel door to door begging for help in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, the BJP flagged the murders of women in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Trinamul-governed Bengal.
As the slanging match underlined the rise in crimes against women across the country, Modi, whose 2014 slogan claimed that women would be safe under his governance, was busy congratulating the Indian women who have won medals at the Asian Games.
He said Indian women were winning medals because of their commitment, focused training and unwavering determination.
Modi had, however, not spoken a word when women wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, who had won international success through the same commitment and determination, sat on a Delhi street for weeks alleging sexual harassment of wrestlers by their federation chief, a BJP parliamentarian.
The Prime Minister, one of whose pet slogans is “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” (save and educate the girl child), has faced widespread criticism for his tendency to remain silent after horrific crimes against women, from Uttar Pradesh to Manipur.
On Friday, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate questioned Modi’s credentials for talking about women’s empowerment, recalling how he had ignored serious crimes against women in BJP-ruled states.
National Crime Records Bureau data shows a rise of 87 per cent in reported crimes against women between 2011 and 2021.
Shrinate expressed anguish at the “my rape versus your rape” discourse started by the BJP when news broke of women being paraded naked in Manipur.
The BJP had countered the national outrage with whataboutery about Rajasthan even though the majority view in the country was that the Manipur atrocities could not be compared to the crime situation in other states.
“Rape and murder of women is not an election issue. It is a social and civilisational concern. The problem comes when the police, administration and politicians become insensitive and irresponsible,” Shrinate said.
“In Rajasthan, the conviction rate is 46 per cent against the national rate of 28 per cent. There has been prompt action against the criminals in all the cases in Rajasthan. There is no attempt to hide the details or ignore the cases.”
Shrinate added: “The Ujjain case shows police and administrative failure. There was an attempt to create an impression that the girl was mentally unsound and belonged to Uttar Pradesh. The fact that she belonged to Satna was hidden because Madhya Pradesh is going to the polls.
“The Satna police initially refused to register an FIR and asked the parents to search for the girl on their own. If a hunt were launched and CCTV footage examined, the incident could have been averted.”
The girl had by herself reached Ujjain, 700km from Satna, where she had been gang-raped.
Shrinate said: “The girl, with clothes torn and bleeding profusely, begged door to door for help. Reports of the incident came out in the newspapers. The girl’s grandfather recognised the photograph and approached the police. Then there was an attempt to hide her Dalit identity. The girl was in school uniform and gave correct details of her family but she was declared a mentally unfit beggar.”
She added: “A Congress delegation went to the hospital to see the girl. But chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan hasn’t visited her. Kailash Vijayavargiya, who lives barely a kilometre away from the hospital, hasn’t visited her. There is no word from Modi, (Union home minister) Amit Shah or (Union) women and child development minister Smriti Irani. How can these people talk of women’s empowerment?”
