After nation-wide public outrage over the horrific Kathua and Unnao rape cases and the widespread criticism of the government’s silence on the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally spoke on Friday (April 13).  And it was just about in time, because a few hours later and the Prime Minister would have been upstaged by no less than UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who called the Kathua incident “horrific.”

There has been significant coverage of the incident in the international media. On Saturday (April 14) came a statement from United Nations chief Guterres who termed the gangrape and murder of the eight-year old Asifa as “horrific”.

“I think we’ve seen the media reports of this horrific case, of the abuse and the murder of a young girl. We very much hope that the authorities will bring the perpetrators to justice so they can be held accountable for the murder of this young girl,” said Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujjaric told the media at a press conference.

Meanwhile, PM Modi said, while speaking at the inauguration of B R Ambedkar Memorial at Delhi’s Alipur Road: “I want to assure the nation that no culprit would be spared. Complete justice will be done. Those daughters will get justice.”

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who had earlier challenged the Prime Minister to speak calling his silence as “unacceptable”, later tweeted and asked PM Modi ‘when’ the daughters were going to get justice.

“Dear Prime Minister, Thank you for breaking your long silence. You said ‘our daughters will get justice’. India wants to know: when?” tweeted Gandhi.

Surprisingly, PM Modi did not mention ‘Unnao’ and ‘Kathua’ even once in his speech, referring to them as ‘incidents in news’. “The kind of incidents that we have seen in the recent days, it challenges the concept of social justice,” said PM Modi.

 

Referring to the rape incidents as shameful, he said: “The incidents that are in news for the past two days, it is shameful for a civilised society.”

However, he did not forget to relate the matter to freedom fighters. He said that the incident is an insult to the freedom fighters who sacrificed their life for the independence of this country. “We are ashamed as a society, as a country. Such incidents taking place in any part of the country, in any region, challenges our human emotions,” said PM.

The Prime Minister recalled his first speech that he had given after swearing-in, in which he had said that parents should question sons, instead of their daughters, if they come late at night. He said that he was courageous enough to say so from the Red Fort.

“You would remember the first speech that I had given after becoming Prime Minister in 2014 and I had the courage to say so from the Red Fort. I had asked the parents who enquire their daughters on where they were, to ask their sons where they were, why do they come home late at night. The people who do crime against these mothers and sisters are also born of a mother. Therefore, social sympathy is our responsibility,” he said.

He said that it is the collective responsibility of the entire society to eradicate these social evils. “We all have to together fight these evils in our society as it is our responsibility that the criminal gets as strict a punishment as possible. I assure that the Indian government will show no paucity in taking up this responsibility,” said the PM.

Not many of the government ministers have dared to speak on the incident, General VK Singh being the first. Singh had tweeted: “We have failed Ashifa as humans. But she will not be denied justice”. After his comments came the statement of Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development saying that her ministry will be seeking death penalty in the case of rape of minors below 12.  Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also told reporters: Kathua rape victim’s family should get justice”.

Meanwhile, today Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti wrote to the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court to set up a fast-track court for speedy trial of the Kathua rape case and concluding trial it within 90 days.

—India Legal Bureau