Our Correspondent / New Delhi
Congress President Rahul Gandhi Saturday joined the protest demonstration against the rape of 34 minors in a government-funded shelter home in Bihar, where he alleged that poor and weaker sections were under attack in the Narendra Modi led government and now it would be the BJP-RSS ideology versus the rest of India.
“On one side it is the RSS-BJP ideology and on the other the rest of India,” said Rahul in his address to the gathering at Jantar Mantar where leaders of various parties including RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D. Raja and rebel JD-U leader Sharad Yadav on one platform.
Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal had brought the protests over the horrific rapes from Patna to Delhi in an effort to chip away at the carefully-crafted reputation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Protest against the rape turned into a major show of opposition unity in the national capital.
“You see how the opposition stands united here. India stands united while the BJP and RSS stand on the other side. It will be more visible very soon. India is saying that whatever happened in the last four years was not good… There were attacks on the Indian culture. But when Indians make up their mind, no one stands a chance against them.”
Gandhi said oppressed and weaker sections of the society were being assaulted openly in the country.
“Be it women, labourers, tribals, farmers, Dalits or minorities. Everyone is under the attack. But we are standing united here to tell them that we are with you, we are with the women of India.”
Tejashwi Yadav said “as a Bihari, I feel ashamed that there is complete lawlessness in Bihar” as minors, who needed shelter, were being raped “right under the nose of the government”.
“In 2013, Brajesh Thakur (the main accused) joined the JD-U. Nitish Kumar should clarify on this. The Chief Minister has even visited Thakur’s residence. The public is watching. I want to ask the people, will they choose the leader who has maintained silence on this issue? The ‘rakshas raj’ (demon’s rule) is back in Bihar.”
He said there was no news of the victims who had now been shifted to another shelter home in Madhubani being run by an aide of one Sanjay Jha “who is a close aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar”.
Kejriwal alleged that “no action was taken” even when the Bihar government was alerted by some NGOs that all was not right.
“Children were being raped and government funds kept pouring in. Those who provide sanctuary to the accused are even bigger culprits… I want to warn them. Nirbhaya was raped and the UPA government was rocked. This time there are 40 such Nirbhayas (in Bihar),” the Aam Aadmi Party chief said.
CPM leader Yechury said there was no other remedy to this than capital punishment for the culprits. “The slogan has now changed to ‘BJP se beti bachao’. I haven’t seen such inhumanity ever before… All this anarchy which we are seeing today, cannot have happened without the shelter of the BJP… We have to remove these parties from power from Centre and state.”
The shelter home came under the spotlight following a social audit report by TISS, which detected large-scale complaints from inmates of sexual exploitation. Medical examination of the inmates confirmed sexual exploitation in the case of 34 of the 44 girls. The police registered a case against 11 people, including Brajesh Thakur and Madhu Kumari, on May 31. All 44 girls have since been shifted to short-stay homes in Madhubani, Patna and Mokama.
AAP Convenor & Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal reaches Jantar Mantar in solidarity with RJD's protest against Muzaffarpur Rape case, demanding Justice for Victims.
Senior Leader @SanjayAzadSln, MLAs @attorneybharti & @AAPkaSurender also joined. pic.twitter.com/qYYIzqgXMR
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) August 4, 2018