NEW DELHI: Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday expressed deep concern over the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, characterising the incident as a “painful” event that has shaken the nation’s conscience.
Dhankhar also criticised certain ‘stray voices‘, particularly those from within the political sphere, for trivialising the incident.
“When humanity has been shamed, there are some stray voices, voices that cause concern. They only aggravate our excruciating pain. To put it mildly, they are adding salt to our injured conscience and what do they say “it is a symptomatic malaise, a frequent incident” … When it comes from someone who is a Member of Parliament, a senior advocate, then the culpability is of extreme degree. There can be no alibi for such kind of demonizing thoughts. I call upon such misguided souls to revisit their thoughts and publicly tender an apology. This is not an occasion where you should be looking through political prism. This political prism is a dangerous one, it kills your objectivity. It calls for searching within,” the VP said at an event on Sunday.
The remarks were directed at senior advocate Kapil Sibal, the Supreme Court Bar Association president who is also representing the Mamata Banerjee government in the sensitive rape-murder case. Sibal purportedly used the expression ‘symptomatic malaise’ in a resolution by the Bar association.
Dhankhar further took aim at certain non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for their silence on the issue, suggesting that their lack of response is more damaging than the actions of the perpetrators themselves. He criticised those who engage in political maneuvering while neglecting the moral imperative to speak out against such atrocities, stating, “Their silence is much worse than the culpable act of perpetrators of this heinous crime”
“Certain NGOs who are on road for drop of an incident, drop of a hat, but they are in silence mode. We have to question them. Their silence is much worse than the culpable act of perpetrators of this heinous crime that happened on August 9. Those who seek to play politics and brownie points, keep on writing letters to one another, are not responding to the call of their conscious,” said Dhankhar.
The Vice President’s remarks reflect a growing national outrage over the incident, which has sparked widespread protests and calls for stronger measures to ensure the safety of women in India.
Dhankhar also criticised certain ‘stray voices‘, particularly those from within the political sphere, for trivialising the incident.
“When humanity has been shamed, there are some stray voices, voices that cause concern. They only aggravate our excruciating pain. To put it mildly, they are adding salt to our injured conscience and what do they say “it is a symptomatic malaise, a frequent incident” … When it comes from someone who is a Member of Parliament, a senior advocate, then the culpability is of extreme degree. There can be no alibi for such kind of demonizing thoughts. I call upon such misguided souls to revisit their thoughts and publicly tender an apology. This is not an occasion where you should be looking through political prism. This political prism is a dangerous one, it kills your objectivity. It calls for searching within,” the VP said at an event on Sunday.
The remarks were directed at senior advocate Kapil Sibal, the Supreme Court Bar Association president who is also representing the Mamata Banerjee government in the sensitive rape-murder case. Sibal purportedly used the expression ‘symptomatic malaise’ in a resolution by the Bar association.
Dhankhar further took aim at certain non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for their silence on the issue, suggesting that their lack of response is more damaging than the actions of the perpetrators themselves. He criticised those who engage in political maneuvering while neglecting the moral imperative to speak out against such atrocities, stating, “Their silence is much worse than the culpable act of perpetrators of this heinous crime”
“Certain NGOs who are on road for drop of an incident, drop of a hat, but they are in silence mode. We have to question them. Their silence is much worse than the culpable act of perpetrators of this heinous crime that happened on August 9. Those who seek to play politics and brownie points, keep on writing letters to one another, are not responding to the call of their conscious,” said Dhankhar.
The Vice President’s remarks reflect a growing national outrage over the incident, which has sparked widespread protests and calls for stronger measures to ensure the safety of women in India.