New Delhi. The BJP on Wednesday said President Draupadi Murmu’s comments on crimes against women reflect the gravity of the issue and it is time to rise above party politics and ensure justice in such cases. The BJP’s response came after Murmu wrote an exclusive signed article for PTI-Bhasha in which she spoke for the first time on the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata and expressed her anguish over the ongoing crimes against women.
President Draupadi Murmu expressed her anger over the crimes against women and called for curbing them, saying that enough is enough. She said that now the time has come for India to become aware of such “distortions” and fight the mindset that sees women as “less powerful”, “less capable” and “less intelligent”. Bharatiya Janata Party’s national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said in a press conference at the party headquarters here, “The gravity and depth of the matter can be understood from the President’s statement. The President is the first citizen of the country.”
Responding to a question, he said, “After this, allegations and counter-allegations and party politics should end and we should think about how justice can be done in such incidents and how such tendencies can be curbed in future.” Recently, the issue of crime against women has come into the limelight again with nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Daily life in West Bengal was partially affected on Wednesday as well due to the 12-hour bandh called by the BJP to protest against police action against protesters during a protest march to the state secretariat on Tuesday. Trivedi said, “We are not happy to say that the bandh was an unprecedented success. But it is sad to see that the West Bengal government is not paying any heed to the public’s resentment and anger expressed through the bandh.” The BJP leader dismissed as a “sad attempt” a statement made in Kolkata by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in which she had said that existing laws would be amended next week to ensure death penalty to rape convicts.
He alleged, “Now she is talking about death penalty (for rape convicts) to divert the attention of the public.” On the Chief Minister’s appeal to the agitating junior doctors of the state to consider returning to work, Trivedi alleged that Banerjee has “indirectly” tried to intimidate them by saying in her appeal that her government “does not want to file an FIR against them and ruin their careers”. He said, “We condemn the mindset of the Chief Minister.” He accused Banerjee of running a “dictatorial” government in West Bengal.