BJP leadership’s criticism of Hoshiarpur rape-murder case ‘political puffery’: Punjab CM

Says no comparison with Hathras case, where state government and police tried to cover up case to protect upper caste accused

Rejecting the BJP senior leadership’s attack on his government and the Gandhis over the Hoshiarpur rape-murder case, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday termed the remarks of Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Prakash Javadekar as “political puffery”, with no substance or basis to support their criticism.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh during his recent visit to Punjab. The CM took on the BJP leadership on their “selective politics and selective outrage” charge against the Gandhis. (HT file photo)

Contrary to what the leaders were claiming, there was no comparison between the Hoshiarpur and the Hathras cases, said Captain Amarinder Singh, pointing out that the Uttar Pradesh government and police did not only fail to initiate stern action but also seemingly tried to cover up the matter to benefit the upper caste accused. This, he said, was in contrast to the prompt action taken by Punjab Police, who arrested the accused and were now preparing to file the challan within a week.

He said he had directed the DGP to ensure that the case is fast-tracked by the courts to ensure exemplary action for the accused.

‘FORCED TO SPEAK UP FOR JUSTICE TO HATHRAS VICTIM’

On the BJP leaders’ criticism of the silence of the Congress leadership on the Hoshiarpur case, Captain Amarinder Singh said that his party had been forced to speak up and protest the Hathras case because the state had failed to get justice for the Dalit girl there. “Had the BJP government in UP responded as effectively and speedily as we did in Punjab, neither the Congress and the Gandhis, nor scores of NGOs, lawyers, human rights activists would have been forced to take to the streets to fight for the victim,” he claimed in a press release.

The “selective politics and selective outrage” charge, which Sitharaman made against Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was, in fact, apt for the BJP, the chief minister said. No BJP leader had uttered a word in protest against the acts of omission and commission of the UP government and police in the Hathras case, when the entire nation was in uproar, he said, slamming the party over its politically motivated reaction to the Hoshiarpur incident.

‘REFLECTS BJP’S ANTI-DALIT, ANTI-WOMAN MINDSET’

Expressing shock at Sitharaman’s and Javadekar’s remark of “picnic tour” by the Gandhis and other Congress MPs in Hathras, he said it reflected the BJP’s anti-Dalit and anti-woman mindset.

“The Gandhis faced lathis at the hands of the UP Police in Hathras, they walked miles to reach out to the victim’s family, who cried on the shoulders of the brother-sister duo,” he said. “If the BJP had made even an iota of this effort to pressurise the UP government into ensuring justice for the family in Hathras, the Congress would not have been forced to take on the responsibility of doing so,” he added.