In his Independence Day speech this August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned crimes against women, calling them “demonic acts”.
He added, “I can feel this outrage”. He said that steps should be taken to make “those who commit such sins fear the consequences including hanging to death”.
That was no passing remark. Nine days later, he returned to the theme. As controversy raged over the rape-murder in Kolkata, governed by the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee, he said that “crimes against women are unforgivable. No matter who the culprit is, they should not be spared… The safety of mothers, sisters and daughters is the country’s priority”.
He went beyond his earlier comment by also denouncing “those helping the perpetrators of crimes against women”. They too “should not be spared”, he said. He reminded his audience that “I have repeatedly raised this issue from the Red Fort”.
Indeed he has. In his speech from the Red Fort in 2022, Modi spoke of his “agony” over the issue. He made a thunderous appeal: “Can we not pledge to get rid of every behaviour, culture that humiliates and demeans women in our daily lives?”
That was no ordinary Independence Day. It was the 75th anniversary of India’s freedom.
But “agony”? On that same day, eleven men who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and multiple murders of her family members were set free. They received a heroes’ welcome.
Their victim during the Gujarat riots of 2002 had been 19 years old and five months pregnant when the atrocity occurred. Fourteen members of her family were killed by her assailants, including her three-year-old daughter whose head was smashed.
Modi’s government approved their release. The authorisation was signed by his closest associate, Union home minister Amit Shah. In a system in which power is radically centralised in the Prime Minister’s hands, he must have agreed to this.
Their release and not least, its timing – on the very day that Modi spoke from the Red Fort of his “agony” over crimes against women – was a true indication of what he and his government really think about “behaviour, culture that humiliates and demeans women in our daily lives”. The Supreme Court took up the matter at Bilkis Bano’s urging and sent the killers and rapists back where they belong – to prison.
For Modi to now say he has in his Independence Day speeches “repeatedly raised” the issue of ensuring the criminals who commit crimes against women are “not spared” was breathtakingly crass.
James Manor is emeritus professor of commonwealth studies in the School of Advanced Study, University of London.
