The Deafening Silence, But For How Long?

When the country’s most articulate Politician, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, known for excellent oratory and communication skills, goes silent on the two most dreadful rapes and a merciless murder, the nation witnessed in the recent times, it speaks volumes about the dismal state of administration and law & order in the country.

Two ministers of the Bhartiya Janata Party, a coalition partner in Jammu and Kashmir Government openly supported the accused in the Kathua rape and murder case, in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao incident, the alleged culprit is the victim’s neighbour and their Local MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of the ruling BJP.

In both the cases, there is a direct involvement of BJP and right-wing men, the brutality with which the crimes were committed will put even the beastly animals to shame. All through the day protesters on the road and twitteraties on twitter vented their anger and mocked the PM on being silent, however the PM was seen in the high-profile defence expo in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He spoke on various issues, but remained mum on the rape cases.

Asifa Banu, an eight-year-old girl from a nomadic Muslim tribe was kidnapped, kept hostage at a temple 70 kms from Jammu, gang raped and murdered in January. The beastly brutality committed, was with the evil intentions toinstil fear among the people belonging to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community by eight men. The case was covered up by the local police under watchful eyes of powerful ministers in the state cabinet.

The Charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch of J&K police, says that Asifa Bano was not fed for the four days that she was kept captive. She was put on sedatives while she was raped by three men. The drugs ensured she would not cry out loud, not even when she was strangled.

The documents say all this happened under the watch of the temple custodian Sanji Ram. His own son, Vishal, his nephew (a juvenile) and a special police officer, Deepak Khajuria, are also accused of raping her and are among the 8 men who were arrested by Crime Branch.

In Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, a 16-year-old girl was raped last year allegedly by thelocal BJP MLA but the authorities failed to give her justice till date.  The suffering of the teenager in Uttar Pradesh has been aggravated further, the girl’s father died in the police custody because of the brutal physical assault on him by the accused MLA’s brother. The video on the physical brutality committed, has gone viral, much to the dismay of the powerful political class of the state.

Both the crimes showcase how rape is used as a tool to silence people belonging to the minority community (in the Kathua incident) and how powerful people like Sengar (in Unnao case) can move scot-free even after an FIR was registered against him.

The fire and anger ignited among the Indians subsequent to these two shameful cases will definitely not die down anytime soon. A classic case of how power and politics joined hands to kill the justice system, which is otherwise accountable to the victims of rape and torture. It is no secret now that the PM remains silent on all unpleasant episodes that have hit the country in the last four years of his parties’ governance.

The PM spoke eloquently to woo the young voters before their board exams, even bringing out his book “Exam Warriors”, remained stoically silent when CBSE exam papers were leaked, pushing lakhs of students to uncertainty   and looming fear. When the “exam warriors” actually needed a direction, the General opted to remain Silent.

PM always ‘stands tall’ to talk about his pet project, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save the girl child, educate the girl child) in public platforms. Now, when the nation is asking him to speak out or at least condemn the heinous crimes against the minors, the PM seems to be inadvertently cut off from the ground reality. It will be very wrong to say that PM is unaware about the happenings. Like all, Modi is aware of the direct involvement of his own party colleagues and their cowardly attempts to subvert the justice system in both the heinous rape cases. By his silence, a perception is built up that there is a tactical support from the government to the accused. It is not only the PM, most of his cabinet and even the opposition leaders too have largely remained silent over these rape cases.

As celebrities and foreign media started to nudge the powerful, Union minister, VK Singh condemned the rape and killing of Kathua girl on Thursday.

Well past evening, the Congress President Rahul Gandhi, tweeted and lead a midnight candlelight march to protest crimes against women in the national capital. Attended by thousands including his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Robert Vadra and many senior congress leaders. A senior leader taunted the PM by stating, “the crowd at the midnight candlelight march is here to awaken the sleeping Chowkidar”.

Thanking the public for their support to counter the rising acts of violence against girls and women, Rahul Gandhi tweeted:

Thousands of men and women stood up to be counted in the battle for justice and to protest the rising acts of violence against girls and women.

I thank each and every one of you for your support. It shall not be in vain. pic.twitter.com/IWMtQSXV4m

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 13, 2018

For a party and its Leader who never minced words to attack the ex-Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh for being silent and less articulate, this deafening silence by the PM on contentious issues leaves a big question mark on his leadership capabilities.

During a parliamentary debate in 2011, opposition leader, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj attacked the then PM, Dr. Singh with a Urdu couplet

“Tu idhar udhar ki baat na kar, ye bataa ki kaafila kyun luta;
Hamein rahjano se gila nahin, teri rahbari ka sawaal hai”.

(Translation: Don’t talk about this thing and that, tell us why the caravan was looted. We have no complaint with the passer-by, it is a question of your leadership)

Perhaps it’s time, the opposition puts forward the same Couplet to PM Modi, which Mrs. Sushma Swaraj had quoted to attack the then PM.

Disclaimer: The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of N4M Media.