Delhi, August 17th, 2022: Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera hit out at PM Modi over the release of eleven convicts of the Bilkis Bano rape case. All 11 convicts of the ghastly case were set free on August 16th from the Godhra sub-jail.
“This decision conveys BJP’s mindset”, Khera said.
Eleven convicts who were imprisoned in 2008 for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, were released on August 16th due to reasons like age, nature of the crime, behavior in prison, and the fact that they had spent fifteen years in jail.
Khera shed light on PM Modi’s Independence Day speech which was just a day before their release during which he urged citizens to respect women and pledge not to insult them.
He further asked whether the Prime Minister’s statements had any meaning and said Mr. Modi should tell the country if he himself believed in his words when he spoke about the safety, respect, and empowerment of women.
“Who is the real Narendra Modi? The one who serves falsehood from the ramparts of the Red Fort or the one who gets his Gujarat Government to release those behind rape. This Congress party and the country want to know,” the Congress leader asked.
Bano was awarded a compensation of Rs. 50 lakhs in 2019, seventeen years after the incident.
Lastly, he poses a question to PM Modi and his government whether this is how 75 years of Indian Independence should be celebrated, referring to Modi’s “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” campaign.
