It seems Hathras case is far from over, the Media and Opposition were already fueling the propaganda of alleged gangrape and atrocities of Police, in the meantime, the gang of International Feminist and Dalit NGOs have come together and have approached the United Nations to take any sort of action against UP CM Yogi Adityanath.
As per the report published in Times of India, more than over 60 Indian diaspora’s Dalit and Feminist groups in the United Kingdom have requested the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner (UNHRC) Michelle Bachelet to ask Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi to dismiss Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in view of the outrage over the alleged gang-rape of a 19-year-old Dalit girl by four upper-caste men in Hathras.
British MP Apsana Begum (Labour Party) along with over 30 feminist groups and all Dalit organizations in UK, Ambedkar International Missions from various parts of the world have joined this case. The signatories of the open letter are members of the diaspora groups like Caste Watch UK, South Asia Solidarity Group, National Valmiki Sabha, NRI UK, London Black Women’s Project, and several Ambedkar International Missions in different countries. British MPs John McDonnell, Kim Johnson, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, and Paula Barker are also signatories to this letter.
This letter mentioned the demand that the UNHRC should set up an international inquiry into the Hathras rape case and other sexual assaults and crimes against women and Dalits in UP since the Adityanath government came to power in the state.
The letter is reproduced here verbatim (Source clarionindia.net)
To the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet
Dear Ms Bachelet,
We are writing to you to express our deep sense of shock and dismay at the terrible events unfolding in Uttar Pradesh, India and to urge you to take action as outlined below.
Recent events
On 14 September, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang-raped and assaulted with inhuman violence in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Her spine was broken, paralysing all her limbs, her body grievously bruised and her tongue was brutally wounded.
The four men who had raped and assaulted her were oppressor- caste Thakurs who dominated the village she lived in–a place which continues to practice ‘untouchability’. They had allegedly been ruthlessly harassing her for a considerable length of time, to the extent that she was afraid of leaving her home.
But worse was to come. The UP police, initially reluctant to register a case against the four accused, left her lying on the concrete floor of the police station and when she was eventually taken to a hospital, she was left in a generic ward. Only after pressure built up was she transferred to the ICU and later to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, where she passed away on 29 September.
But even this scale of cruelty was not enough for the police and administration of UP and the local government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath which gives them their orders. On the night of 30 September, they took away her dead body. Her mother’s pleas to be allowed one last look at her were ignored. Then, barricading her family in their house so they could not attend or perform funeral rites, the police forcibly and hurriedly cremated her body at 2:30 am to erase all evidence in the case.
Not isolated events
What is most shocking is that far from being an isolated crime, this is part of a systematic attack on women and oppressed castes. Three other sexual assaults and deaths of women and girls took place in UP hardly 24 hours after the Hathras victim’s remains had been consigned to flames by the UP police. In Balrampur, a 22-year-old Dalit woman was raped and murdered. In Bhadohi, a 14-year-old Dalit girl was found dead, her face disfigured and head battered–rape is suspected–and in Azamgarh, an 8-year-old girl was raped.
While attacks on Dalits and women have escalated vastly all over India since 2014, when the Hindu-supremacist Modi regime with its entrenched casteist and misogynist ideology came to power, the Adityanath government in UP has seen by far the largest number of attacks and atrocities.
For example, in 2019, India reported 4,05,861 cases of crimes against women with Uttar Pradesh topping the list with 59,853 such incidents, according to India’s annual National Crime Record Bureau’s “Crime in India” 2019 report. As for the atrocities against Dalits and other oppressed castes, they, too, have escalated vastly and oppressor castes have been allowed to act with total impunity.
For example, according to the National Crime Record Bureau figures, in 2016, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of atrocities against Dalits–26% of all cases reported.
We are deeply concerned about where this is leading India and more specifically the state of Uttar Pradesh.
We hope you are able to take action:
- Urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dismiss Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
- Set up an international inquiry into the Hathras rape case and other rapes and crimes against women, particularly Dalit and oppressed-caste women in UP since the Adityanath government came to power in the state.
It is quite clear now that this case has been politicized and has been projected as something extraordinary to score political brownie points. With the indulgence of ‘international NGOs,’ it seems this case will be used as an Intolerance 2.0 to instigate people and malign the image of India at an international platform. The most painful thing is that now the justice for the deceased girl seems to have taken a backseat as political vultures have rushed in for their 15-seconds of fame.
As far as the Labour party of UK is concerned, it is known for its anti-Indian stance for a long time. It was the party which passed a resolution favouring international intervention in Kashmir. This is the party which blindly supported Pakistan’s propaganda over India’s abrogation of Article 370 to convert Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories and hold a rally to support the cause of ‘Free Kashmir’. Hence their frustration is very much understood, as this anti-Indian stance is the primary reason for their massive defeat in recent UK elections.
Our Opinion? All we want to say is, we don’t really care about these theatrics now, we have seen countless such dramas since 2014, and our Government is very much know how to doze them off. BRING IT ON !!
