Trinamool, BJP join hands to pass Aparajita anti-rape bill in assembly
Times of India | 4 September 2024
Kolkata: Trinamool and BJP joined hands to ensure an unanimous passage for the Aparajita Bill in the state assembly on Tuesday, with CM Mamata Banerjee expressing "solidarity with the protesters" and calling rape "a national shame".
The proposed law makes several sexual assault crimes punishable with death and comes less than four weeks after the brutal rape-murder of an RG Kar junior doctor at the hospital on Aug 9.
"I express solidarity with all the protesters and express my grief to the victim's family. The society where women are not safe can never progress," Banerjee said during the passage of the bill.
"This bill will now go to the governor. Tell him to sign it quickly," Banerjee told opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari after he voiced his support for the bill. "The bill will require approval from President Droupadi Murmu, too, but that responsibility is ours," she said.
Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee later urged Centre to take decisive action on the anti-rape law. "Given the harrowing statistic of a rape every 15 minutes, the demand for a comprehensive time-bound anti-rape law is more pressing than ever. The Centre must take decisive action, by ordinance or BNSS amendment in the upcoming parliament session, to ensure justice is both swift and severe, with trial and conviction in 50 days," he wrote on X.
The CM also kept up the pressure on CBI, seeking "justice" from the agency. "I visited the family of the victim on a Monday and asked for time till the next Sunday to arrest all the accused, failing which the case could be transferred to the CBI. Police took 12 hours to arrest the main accused. But the case was transferred to the CBI. Now we want justice from the CBI. We have wanted capital punishment since the beginning," she added.
The opposition BJP continued to clamour for Banerjee's resignation, raising the "Dafa ek, dabi ek (One agenda, one demand)" slogan, prompting her to shoot back: "I want Narendra Modi's resignation first (for the rapes in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states). Then we can discuss the rest." Banerjee, accusing the BJP of spreading misinformation, also referred to the Unnao and Hathras incidents: "Those, too, were shameful. The rape accused and a BJP were garlanded and honoured! Isn't that an incitement to rape?"
The CM dubbed the Aparajita Bill "historic", adding: "The PM could not do it but we did. We made this happen. Rape is a national shame and the PM is a national disgrace. He cannot protect women; I demand the resignation of both the PM and the union home minister (Amit Shah)."
"I do not care about the insults you hurl at me but do not tarnish Bengal's name. Remember, if you defame Bengal, it will affect you too. It will affect me as well. There are constant slanders about me and Bengal. What will you do if we speak out against Modi and Shah?" she asked.