Congress leader and former Union minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday tweeted that two BJP legislators were on the Gujarat review panel that granted remission to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case who had been freed on Independence Day.
During the day, a video clip emerged showing C.K. Raulji, one of the MLAs named by Chidambaram and who represents Godhra, purportedly seeking to defend the convicts by saying “they are Brahmins. Anyway, the sanskar of Brahmins is very good.”
Chidambaram, who had headed the Union home ministry among others, tweeted: “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 Shri C. K. Raolji and Smt Suman Chauhan!”
He added: “Another member was Shri Murli Mulchandani who was a key witness for the prosecution in the Godhra Train burning case! Was this a neutral, non-partisan panel of experts in criminology and penology? The District Collector was the Chairperson.”
In an interview in halting Hindi to the Mojo digital news platform, Raulji, the Godhra MLA, said: “I was told by the government that according to the Supreme Court guidelines..., one must see the behaviour of the 11 accused after they were in jail. If they are all right…. By speaking to the jailer, I did not feel that they could have rioted in jail as well.”
Asked about the Union home ministry guidelines in June to exclude life convicts and convicted rapists from remission, Raulji, a former Gujarat minister, replied: “I did not know about this. But their behaviour, and their behaviour before going to jail, their family members now (say) they are silent, honest men….”
In communal incidents, he said: “Innocent people can also be involved. That is why it is clear that they did not commit any crime in the past…. There can be a mala fide intention of putting someone in for a crime…. They are Brahmins. Anyway, the sanskar of Brahmins is very good.”
On the felicitation of the freed convicts by a Hindutva group, Raulji, who had earlier been a Congress MLA, said: “No members of the committee (which granted the remission) went there…. Everyone has their own views. I can’t say anything about it.”
Rahul query
A day after accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in hollow rhetoric on women’s empowerment, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi asked whether he was ashamed of the politics that stands with criminals who torment women.
Rahul tweeted: “Unnao – Attempts to protect BJP MLA. Kathua – Rally in favour of rapists. Hathras – Government sides with rapists. Gujarat – Release and felicitation of rapists! Honouring the criminals exposes BJP’s lowly mindset towards women. Prime Minister, aren’t you ashamed of such politics?”
Rahul was referring to cases of crimes against women in which BJP leaders were either involved or the government was accused of playing a negative role.
A then sitting BJP MLA has been serving a jail term in the Unnao rape case, while in Kathua, local BJP leaders organised a rally against the arrest of the priest who was accused of raping and killing a minor girl.
In the Hathras case, the Uttar Pradesh government was accused of apathy and denial. The body of the rape victim was forcibly burnt without family’s consent.
The latest controversy Rahul mentioned, in relation to Gujarat, was the release of the 11 convicts.
The Congress had on Wednesday asked the Centre whether it had given its approval to the state government’s decision to release the convicts, but the Centre has not responded yet.
