PM should answer the nation, says Left after protests

Condemning the police action against youths protesting crimes against women, the Left parties on Saturday asked the Prime Minister to assure the nation of stern action against the perpetrators.

Condemning the police action against youths protesting crimes against women, the Left parties on Saturday asked the Prime Minister to assure the nation of stern action against the perpetrators.

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Asking for an assurance that the government would take urgent steps to check such crimes, CPI national secretary D Raja said "if the Prime Minister can address the nation on the issue of allowing FDI in retail, why can't he find time to do so when such horrendous crimes against women are taking place."

In a statement, the CPI(M) Politburo said "the Prime Minister should answer the nation. He should intervene without delay, implement the measures assured earlier and take appropriate action against those top police officials responsible. Pious statements have little meaning."

Observing that the mass protests "reflect the anger of the people" on the issue, Raja said the Prime Minister "should own up moral responsibility and assure the younger generation that the government would build legal safeguards to counter the menace."

The CPI leader said the Prime Minister has "neither been seen nor heard. These are occasions in the history of the nation that the Prime Minister should address the people. His silence leads to loss of confidence and the government already suffers from lack of moral authority" on several issues.

Terming the mass protests as a "spontaneous upsurge" fuelled by the outrage against the brutal gangrape on Sunday and the "common experience" of young women in Delhi of sexual harassment, the CPI(M) said the "arrogant" statements by the home secretary and Delhi Police commissioner "refusing to accept responsibility of the utter failure to implement earlier assurances related to the measures required to ensure security for women in Delhi are deplorable."

The CPI(M) Politburo said the use of batons, teargas and water cannons against the protesters "highlights the utter insensitivity of the Delhi police and the central and state governments on the issue."

"Who is responsible for the monitoring of the security situation? Who is accountable for non-implementation of measures already decided," it asked.

The CPI(M) claimed that the multiplicity of authority in Delhi on issues concerning law and order and security "has meant zero accountability on the part of various authorities for the deteriorating security of women in the capital, with the state and central agencies indulging in a blame game."