BJP merely offering lip service to condemn crimes like rape, not serious in curing plague: TMC

Kolkata, Aug 9 (PTI) Reacting to Saturday’s ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ led by West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari demanding justice for the R G Kar rape-murder victim, the ruling TMC alleged that the saffron party was only offering lip service and token gestures about a heinous crime like rape.

Without directly naming the BJP, TMC in a post on X said that those who profit from selective outrage "consider women's safety as just another political prop." Reminding that the West Bengal Assembly had "unanimously passed the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill", the TMC said it was returned by the Narendra Modi government "raising frivolous objections." "One year ago today, the RG Kar tragedy shook the nation's conscience and left an unhealable scar. The pain endured by the victim's family still weighs heavily on us. Determined to ensure such horrors are never repeated, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill, proposing harshest punishment for rapists, swift, watertight investigations and speedy trials to deliver justice without delay," the party said.

"But when it came to protecting India's daughters, the @narendramodi govt. chose obstruction over action, raising frivolous objections and sending the Bill back for reconsideration," TMC said.

Pointing out that "rape is a plague on society," TMC asserted that "it demands more than lip service and token gestures." "It calls for decisive laws and strong deterrence. Yet, those who profit from selective outrage will never walk the talk because for them, women's safety is just another political prop," the post said.

The West Bengal assembly had unanimously passed the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill nearly a month after the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024.

Governor CV Ananda Bose had sent the Bill back to the state government for consideration of the serious objections raised by the Centre over the proposed changes to the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that the legislation seeks.

The Bill proposed enhancement of punishment for rape from the existing minimum of 10 years under the BNS to life imprisonment for the remainder of one's life or death.

"There are three options before a governor. First is to give ascent to the Bill. Many Bills I had given ascent because these were very good in every respect, Constitutional within the law of the land. The second option is that the Bill can be sent back to the Assembly for reconsideration with certain suggestions, or without suggestions. Once passed by the Assembly, the Bill comes back to the Governor, and he has to give assent to the Bill. The third option is to refer it to the President of India," Bose had told reporters.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had "flagged multiple provisions in the Bill as problematic", a highly placed source had said.

"After taking note of the MHA observation, the governor referred those for appropriate consideration to the state government," the source added.

In a video posted on Saturday, TMC MP Saayoni Ghosh said the Modi government's attitude to the Aparajita Bill unmasks it's attitude to the issue of women's safety.

"The Bill proposed stringent punishment to those committing atrocities on women including a heinous crime like rape. The Narendra Modi government has shown it is not serious in awarding harshest punishment to the predators in our society by not giving consent to the Bill." PTI SUS SCH MNB