Opposition show of unity in Capital
FLEXING MUSCLE Congress, RJD, AAP, CPI(M), CPI, LJD, DMK, INLD and TMC slam Centre over Muzaffarpur shelter home incident
NEWDELHI: Major opposition parties, some of them fighting each other in states, came together, to protest against the alleged rape of young girls at a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur on Saturday. They demanded the guilty be brought to book and accused the BJP-led NDA government of pursuing anti-women polices.
The show of Opposition unity, led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, was occasioned by the protest march organised by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) at Jantar Mantar. Prominent leaders who joined the protest included Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja and Atul Kumar Anjan, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, DMK’s TKS Elangovan, INLD’s Dushyant Chautala and TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi.
Addressing the protesters, Opposition leaders attacked the BJP and demanded stringent punishment against those involved in such heinous crimes through a speedy investigation monitored by the Supreme Court.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi said if Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is ashamed of the incident, he should take action immediately.
“We stand with the women of India, we stand with the girls and their families who suffered in this shelter home,” Gandhi said.
The Congress president said the country is at a crucial crossroads with the BJP and the RSS on one side and the entire nation on the other.
“This will be seen more in many ways in the coming days”, he added.
“India is saying that what has happened in the last four years, we do not like. When India makes up its mind, then no one can stand before it,” Gandhi said.
Recalling the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl on December 16, 2012, Kejriwal said fast track courts should be set up to give death sentences to the accused for such heinous crime. “I demand that this case be probed in three months and the accused be hanged,” he added.
The chief minister of the capital further alleged that the accused have connections with influential people and that women need freedom from “BJP men and their social media warriors” who don’t even spare “senior leaders like Sushma Swaraj.”
Tejashwi, who targeted Nitish Kumar over the incident, demanded a probe monitored by the Supreme Court.
He said there is “Rakshas Raj” in the state of Bihar though those who support the government (the BJP) talk about “Ram Rajya.”
The Bihar government has handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Demanding justice for the girls of the shelter home, he said the accused should be given exemplary punishment and steps be taken to ensure this does not happen again.
He alleged that the state government kept on funding those who ran the home despite receiving clear signals of wrongdoing.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury alleged anarchy is being propagated by governments in BJP-ruled states.
Sharad Yadav added that these crimes have taken place under the nose of the JD(U)-BJP government and demanded “a Supreme Court monitored probe conducted by the CBI”.
“This is only way to ensure justice to the people,” he added. He also said that a national commission should be set up to probe such crimes across the country. “The BJP is not saving the daughters of the country. It is instead busy saving cows,” he added.