Rahul joins Oppn protest at Jantar Mantar over Muzaffarpur shelter-home incident

Team Udayavani, Aug 5, 2018, 9:35 AM IST

New Delhi: In a show of solidarity, leaders of a number of opposition parties including Congress chief Rahul Gandhi joined the RJD at a protest at Jantar Mantar here over the alleged rape of young girls at a shelter-home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and demanded that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar take immediate action against the accused.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his address, sought quick justice and “hanging” of the guilty within three months while RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav demanded that the probe be monitored by the Supreme Court. The Bihar government has handed over the case to the CBI.

Among other prominent leaders who joined the protest included CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja and Atul Kumar Anjan, RJD’s Manoj Jha and Misa Bharti, TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi and DMK’s T K S Elangovan. Addressing the protesters, the leaders attacked the BJP and the JD(U) and demanded stringent punishment against those involved in such heinous crimes.

Gandhi said if Kumar is ashamed of the rape incident, he should immediately act against the culprits. “If he is really feeling ashamed then take action, put the guilty in jail, punish them,” he said. The Congress chief, training his guns at the BJP, also said that there is an “unusual atmosphere” in the country.

“Rape, assault cases… And, whoever is weak in the country today, they are being openly attacked, whether they are women, labourers, small traders, Dalits, adivasis, minorities, whoever is weak, is being attacked,” he alleged. “We are here to tell people that we stand with countrymen and the women, those girls (who suffered in that shelter-home) and their families and won’t move an inch back,” he said.

The Congress chief said on the one side is the ideology of the BJP and the RSS and on the other is the entire country and “this truth will be seen in the coming days and prime minister will see it, his party members will see it”.

“India is saying that what has happened in the last four years, people did not like. The kind of attack on its history and culture, the whole country is standing up against it. And, when India makes up its mind, then no one can stand before it,” he said. Gandhi, in his brief address, also asked the media to “not be afraid” of anyone while discharging their duties and tell the truth openly, saying, “don’t be afraid, we stand with you”.

He alleged that majority journalists were “not BJP-minded”, but were “worried as they are being suppressed, threatened. And, when they try to do their job they were kicked out of their jobs”. Tejashwi Yadav, who targeted Kumar, demanded a probe monitored by the Supreme Court.

“Nitishji talks about girls education and protection but such heinous crimes happen right under the nose of the government. One can see difference in words and deeds. Also, the one of the girls, who had maximum information on this crime, was shifted to another shelter-home in Madhubani. And, reportedly, she has also gone missing,” he alleged. “There is not ‘jungle raj’ (misrule) but ‘rakchhas raj’ (devil’s rule) in Bihar today,” he alleged.

Tejashwi also demanded that the victim girls be taken to Delhi and provided safety. Demanding justice for the girls of the shelter home, who were allegedly sexually exploited, he said the accused should be given exemplary punishment and steps be taken to ensure this does not happen again.

Recalling the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi, Kejriwal said fast track courts should be set to to give death sentence to the accused for such heinous crime. “I demand that this case be probe in three months and the accused be hanged,” he said. The Delhi chief minister alleged that the accused have connections with influential people.

Yechury alleged anarchy is being sheltered by governments in BJP-ruled states. “We need to change this government in Patna (Bihar) and Delhi (Centre)…. the slogan of ‘beti bachao’ is now ‘beti bachao from BJP’,” he said, adding,

Sharad Yadav said that these crime have taken place under the nose of the JDU-BJP government and demanded “a Supreme Court monitored probe conducted by the CBI”. He also said that a national commission should be set up to probe such crimes across the country, including Bihar.

“The BJP is not saving the daughters of the country. It is instead busy saving cows,” he said. A moment of silence was observed at the venue after the end of the protest and then various leaders held out a candlelight vigil on the dais and urged people to carry on the flame of hope and justice.