BJP asks UP govt to transfer Bulandshahr rape case to CBI
3 Aug 2016 5:36 AM IST
Accusing the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh of ‘protecting and appeasing’ criminals ahead of the Assembly polls, BJP on Tuesday asked Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to transfer the Bulandshahr rape case to the CBI if he has any “shame” left.
The saffron party also alleged that the SP first “appeased” Muslims to get votes and was now looking at criminals through the prism of castes and religions and “appeasing” them.
Addressing a press conference, BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma also hit out at the state government over its minister Azam Khan’s reported comments that the Bulandshahr rape was an outcome of political conspiracy against it. It shows how low the ruling party can stoop to for votes, he said.
He also reeled out the state’s crime figures between March, 2012 and March, 2016 to claim that criminals are emboldened under the SP rule while people, especially women, live in fear. UP tops the list in crime against women, he said, adding that 2,920 cases of rape were reported during these four years, besides 12,198 murders and 6,015 robberies.
“Azam Khan has politicised a horrible incident like this. It shows how low this governments and its leaders can stoop to get votes. If Akhilesh Yadav has any morality and shame left, then he should order a CBI probe so that the victims can get justice,” he said.
He shared details of cases in which Dalit women were sexually assaulted and questioned if these were also a political conspiracy. Sharma cited comments of a number of SP leaders, including its president Mulayam Singh Yadav, as he accused them of repeatedly making insensitive remarks against women.
The SP chief had defended some rape accused, claiming that boys commit small mistakes at times and they cannot be hanged for that, he said.
Azam Khan kicks up row, says conspiracy in gang rape
Senior Samajwadi party (SP) leader and Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan has kicked up a controversy by suggesting that the Bulandshahr highway gang rape could be an outcome of a political conspiracy against the ruling party, drawing condemnation from rival parties.
Khan termed the gang rape of a 13-year-old girl and her mother by a group of bandits near Bulandshahr last week as an attempt to “malign” the Samajwadi Party(SP) government by those who want to “come to power” in poll-bound UP. Assembly elections in UP are due next year.
“It must be investigated whether people, with the opposite ideology or those who want to come to power, are behind this incident in order to malign the government,” he said in Rampur on Monday.
“When innocent people can be murdered for political gains, for votes Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar can happen, when Shamli and Kairana can happen...It is not just a matter of two rapes. It is important to know the truth behind it,” Khan was heard as saying in a video that has gone viral on social media.
He was referring to incidents of communal violence in the past. Reacting sharply to Khan’s statement, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday said Azam Khan has crossed all the limits.
“He is doing politics on gang rape now. It’s a matter of shame,” UP’s BJP chief KP Maurya said, and demanded a CBI probe into the incident. BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said it was shameful that a senior minister could make such outrageous statements.
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