NCW chief: Don’t politicise tragedies, act to help women
Times of India | 21 April 2025
12 Kolkata: Calling upon Bengal govt to act immediately to address the grievances of violence-hit women in Murshidabad, National Commission for Women chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar on Sunday said: "The issue is above politics and must be treated with the urgency and seriousness it deserves."
"We must stop politicising such human tragedies. Instead of questioning those who raise these issues, we should be asking the women how they are surviving. Ask the perpetrators why they committed such inhuman acts, and then focus on finding a solution to this grave issue — to create an atmosphere where everyone can live without fear," Rahatkar said.
The NCW would submit its report to Centre and copies to the DGP and chief secretary of Bengal soon, she said. "I have not come here for politics, but for every woman who faced violence — for those who were threatened, molested and dragged out of their homes. To extend strength and solidarity to them," the NCW chairperson said.
Rahatkar also urged that those affected not be ignored or left to suffer. "It is heartbreaking that they are being forced to live like refugees in relief camps within their own country," she said, referring to displaced families taking shelter in a Malda school.
On allegations by Trinamool netas that NCW was acting at the behest of Centre, and why it didn't go to Manipur and BJP-governed states when there were reports of atrocities there, Rahatkar said, "All I will say is I don't want to do politics. I came to be on the side of tortured sisters." Urging those who make such comments to "not divert from the main issue", she added: "Why don't these critics themselves meet those women and stand with them to feel their agony? Aren't they our own people?"
"The pain of the women who were dragged from their homes, brutally attacked, and threatened in the most inhuman manner is unimaginable. The responsibility of ensuring safety and justice lies with Bengal govt," she said.
Meeting reporters at a city hotel, the NCW chairperson said she and other panel members had come across many women and their families over the past two days. She said the torture and suffering they faced was "beyond imagination, beyond words having left a deep scar in their minds", and they needed to be healed and addressed on an urgent basis with a humanitarian approach.
In response to a question about women demanding a BSF camp, Rahatkar said: "Yes, that is what many of them said. There is an air of fear and insecurity in the area. We will certainly incorporate their views in our report."
Recounting her visit to relief camps, she said: "One young mother ran for her life with her 4-day-old baby. There are incidents of newlyweds escaping from home and their every belonging looted. As a woman, I felt disturbed as we went around Murshidabad and Malda for two days. I tried to console them, we told them the entire country is with you. Their mind is shattered and we told them not to lose their mental strength."