On 15th August, India celebrated 75 Years of Independence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing at the historic Red Fort, gave a long speech on Naari Shakti (Women Empowerment) which then became the theme for the Independence Day celebrations in India. On the same day’s evening, a picture circulated on social media showing the 11 culprits of the Bilkis Bano rape case being released from Jail. It sparked debates on media.
The rapists enjoyed a heroic welcome with garlands and sweets in VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad) office and were hailed by BJP members. A viral video also showed a few women celebrating their release. Actually, a penal of Gujarat government officials had recommended the release based on the Remission Policy. Many activists and Journalists criticized the BJP-led Gujarat government for becoming the saviours of criminals.
Bilkis Bano Case:
Bilkis Bano is the victim of the 2002 Gujarat Anti-Muslim riots where more than 1000 Muslims were killed and hundreds were raped. Narendra Modi (Indian PM) was then newly elected CM of Gujarat State who mishandled the situation. It all started with the Godhra Train Burning incident which was still under investigation but VHP and RSS blamed Pakistan’s ISI and local Muslims leading to a series of deadly riots and Mob attacks. VHP with the help of the BJP Government fueled violence in the state.
Bilkis Bano was then a 21 years old 5-month pregnant woman. She had a 3-year-old daughter Saleha with her when the mob burnt their house. She along with her family moved from village to village seeking shelter. A mob attacked them and raped her, her mother, and two sisters. All of the 14 members of her family were killed including her daughter, pregnant cousin, and cousin’s 2-year-old kid. She got too many injuries and lost consciousness. They threw her thinking she was dead.
Court Proceedings:
Bilkis Bano was the only one to survive among the group of 17. From here her long journey of the struggle for justice began. Bilkis failed to get justice even after filing the FIR as all dead bodies were buried without a Post-Marten, shreds of evidence were destroyed, and witnesses were silenced.
In 2004, Indian National Congress came to the power replacing BJP in General elections. Bilkis requested the National Human Rights Commission to appeal for justice. The CBI was involved in the matter after the Supreme Court’s orders. Her case was moved to Mumbai as Gujarat was no longer safe for her.
She had listed 20 men in her FIR. The Mumbai Court found 11 of them Guilty and jailed them in 2008. All the 11 verdicts were given Life Imprisonment for raping Bano and killing her family. Supreme Court later upheld the decision and she went on appearing to the court for a decade. Her struggle ended in 2019 when in the final hearing, Court ordered the Gujarat Government to grant her 5 Lac Indian Rupees, a job, and a house in compensation.
BJP’s Role:
After the death of Gujarat’s CM in 2001, another BJP member Modi became the new Chief Minister. He neither had fame in the state nor the administrating experience. Modi also lacked a good name with the cabinet. Modi had spent most of his life in RSS and his mindset of having a violent approach did not change even after reaching a high political position. After the genocide, media accused him of the ethnic cleansing. International media labelled him as the ‘Butcher of Gujarat’. The US imposed a Visa ban on him and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee (of his party) criticized him. Modi decided for an early election while the Election Commission of India rejected his application. His case remained in the court for years.
In 2011, a police officer Sanjeev Bhatt filed an affidavit accusing Narendra Modi of plotting the massacre. He claimed that Modi had ordered the police to let Hindus do the genocide. He further accused him of destroying the evidence with the help of VHP, RSS, and Bajarang Dal. Sanjeev Bhatt is now serving Life Imprisonment for his involvement in a decades-old case that was dismissed way before and was reopened in 2015 during Modi’s regime.
Modi was the only person who benefitted from the whole scenario. He cashed the pro-Hindu sentiments, Right-wings alliance, and publicity in later elections. It was the peak of Indians’ hatred towards minority Muslims that made a common BJP member, a two-time elected Prime Minister of India. Such injustice for a 2002 Gujarat victim can be expected from this communal government.
Aftermath:
The case follows the old 1992 Remission Policy which the Supreme Court had outlawed in 2012. According to that policy, a life-sentenced prisoner can appeal for his release after spending at least 15 years in Jail. According to one of the panel members, the 1992 policy was preferred over 2014, as verdicts were jailed prior to the approval of the new policy.
BJP has 40 women members in Lok Sabha and a woman as the country’s president, not a single one protested on the matter. On media questions, BJP leaders are playing whataboutery by twisting the matter with Nupur Sharma’s beheading and 1990s Kashmiri Pundits’ exile. A bench of the Supreme Court will review the matter. Subhashini Ali, a Communist Party leader, has filed a plea challenging the Gujarat High Court’s direction. More than 6000 petitions have been filed on change-org asking the government to punish those Rapists and child killers.
Bilkis Bano in her statement stated that she trusted the court, she trusted the system. This all has shaken her faith in justice. On other hand, her husband Yakub Rasool showed concerns for their safety. It is not known whether the court is going to follow the Law & Order or the government’s orders in this matter but Bano, the iron lady, has set an example for others to keep fighting for justice.
This is an old Article which we republished to highlight the RSS-led India’s atrocities against the Muslim women.
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